a mile in my hiking boots

Hiking Boot Miles Will be Found Elsewhere

2009-09-28T10:19:00.001-04:00

Well blogspot, we've had a good run. However, I'm moving on.

New blog: http://alissajean.wordpress.com/

Please come visit :o)

GAGA...

2009-09-15T08:57:00.006-04:00

I'm all for funky fashion. Wear what you want, make your own trend, mix trends, forget trends, make it yours. "Funky", however, should not be confused with "nightmare-ish". Yes, this is a direct reference to Lady Gaga.

If you have managed to watch TV, be on the internet, listen to the radio, or have conversation with citizens of the general public in the last couple days, chances are that you have heard the names Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga being tossed around. The Kanye/Taylor/Beyonce VMA triangle was truly bizarre, but Gaga has captured my full, disturbed, attention.
I realize this is exactly the point, you don't be Gaga in order to be ignored, but my intrigue has won over my aversion to playing into celebrity's attention getting games.

Gaga's fashion choices have made headlines before; a coat made entirely of Kermit the Frog puppets was supposedly an anti-fur statement, according to a Ryan Seacrest interview, although a different interview answer gave a somewhat less noble explanation: “My friends and I in New York dress this way because it’s the way we live. We believe in vanity.”

She also seems to believe in some sort of morbid sexuality. How else would you describe a live performance that ends with her hanging limply in blood covered underwear or a music video revolving around the different ways scantily clad Gaga personas can be brutally killed? Art? Publicity? Statement? Perversion? I'm going with Disturbing...

Of Orange Closets, Crowded Calenders, and Plastic Doors

2009-09-08T09:20:00.005-04:00

[alternate title: The Adventures of Moving Into a Bachelor Pad]

New Home, Old Side of Town. Old Friends, New Adventures; New Friends, New Adventures. Old Work, New Work. Old Caffeine Addictions, New Coffee Maker Location. And a closet that has a bright orange glow. I seem to be capturing the best of all worlds at the moment.

The beginning of September brought the end of my ghetto apartment lease and the start of a new one, in one of those big, beautiful, old, East Grand Rapids homes. East Grand Rapids, how I have missed you! I'm not that far from my old place, but it's a total different side of GR, literally and metaphorically speaking. I am once again sharing traffic space with AQ students, Yesterdog customers, and Gaslight Village Soccer Moms. I love it.

So. I live in a big house. Not a funky apartment. Weird. There are some things I will need to adjust to. Example 1A: My bed no longer consists of a mattress on the floor. (Okay that's not the best example. I suppose I could have had a bed frame in the funky apartment.) Example 1B: I have space to hang my clothes up - on hangers, not chair-backs. Example 1C: The kitchen is down the hall, downstairs. As in, no longer two feet from my bedroom. Read: my coffee maker is far far away. Also read: a boy lives upstairs so I should be somewhat decent to venture into the kitchen. Read further: I have a tendency towards laziness before caffeine has been consumed. Ah well, adjusting to a new home is a process, right?

The move itself was a blast and a half... returning borrowed furniture, borrowing cars to move the token pieces of furniture I actually own, conning friends into helping me carry stuff (thanks, guys!), moving into a temporary bedroom while the ex-but-then-current tenant of my new room moved out a day late, and finally moving across the hall into my official room and unpacking, utilizing, of course, my new closet. Which has an orange glow.

Seriously. It does. It's one of those twisty florescent lights, like the ones that are supposed to be energy efficient, except it's orange. I'm not sure if that makes it more energy efficient or just kinda trippy. I'm gonna go with kinda trippy. You may just have to visit and experience it for yourself to understand what I mean.

[bonus - I now have a perfect scapegoat for any outfit that seems slightly "off". It's the orange light, I swear.]

In other news: life is busy with lots of adventures, including an expedition further into the land of "Social Media". I'm now managing social media for Covenant Developments, playing around with ideas for website *stuff*, and learning that there is so much to learn, experiment with, and try. Thank goodness for wonderful people willing to impart their vast knowledge of this electronic conversation.

In other news X2: The first week in my new residence, my front door was constructed of a piece of plastic stapled to a door frame. Thanks to my ghetto roots, this was somehow totally okay with me. Don't worry Mom, we have a real front door now.

I live in the ghetto.

2009-07-10T11:34:00.006-04:00

i live in the ghetto. i partly say that to sound cool - living in the ghetto increases your street cred. i partly say that as a heads up - people tend to get a little nervous the first time they come to my apartment. but really, i mostly say that as an intro to all the interesting things that come along with that living arrangement, things that i have had the wonderful opportunity to witness and experience in the last year...

*bikes get stolen. obviously. you don't have to live in the ghetto for this to happen. but broken bikes? bikes that cannot actually be ridden? really? my dear friend luke was biking over to my place one night when his chain broke slightly past mid-ride. terrible luck, but he decided to just walk/coast the rest of the way, being slightly past mid-ride. later that night he got a ride home with somebody who happened to actually drive over, leaving his bike on my porch. concerned it would be stolen, i called him the next morning, but he assured me that it would be fine, broken and all. that night, i came home and the bike was gone. okay, not really gone, more like, a few feet away from the porch, laying across the sidewalk. about as far as you can ride a broken bike. so i was convinced, broken bikes are safe.

sadly, this is not an absolute truth as i discovered when i left my own broken bike upside down and unlocked on my porch in an attempt to diagnose the broken-ness. thanks to the upsidedown-ness, i had a clear view of the problem. thanks to the leaving unlocked-ness, i never have to deal with the problem again. actually, it's a problem my mom will never have to deal with again, seeing as it was her bike. oops.

a few days later i saw a make-shift sale sign, you know, the type scribbled on a piece of cardboard, taped to a telephone pole: "used bikes for sale 1025 Somerandomstreet". How much do you want to bet... [i was unfortunately on my way out of town for a few days and never made it over there to check]

*supposedly, people used to hang out on their porches all the time, back in the day. it was the cool neighborhood thing to do. based on my observations, this porch-loitering now only takes place in select neighborhoods; like the ghetto. sit on your porch for too long in the wrong neighborhood and people start wondering what your problem is. sit on your porch as long as you want in northwest Grand Rapids and nobody gives a damn.

suburbia pretentiousness has no place here. i love the sense of freedom that comes with that. case in point: i can sit on my front steps in my pj's eating frozen fat free cool whip straight out of the tub and nobody walking by (see next point) bats an eyelash.

*people walk on my street. a lot. most likely because there is a bus stop on the corner, a pedestrian underpass behind my house, and a dollar store around the block. and the fact that a lot of people probably don't own cars. and the fact that walking is just a nice way to fill time. anyway, there is a lot of foot traffic, and it's not the color-coordinated-work-out-outfit-i-pod-tuned-out-suburbia type foot traffic. it's the i'm-gonna-walk-on-the-sidewalk/middle-of-the-street/grass-and-talk-really-loud-or-sing-or-not-talk-at-all type foot traffic.

*my car has been decorated by spray paint. no, "decorated" is a stretch. somebody felt the need to put a blue line of paint on the driver's door. classy. uncreative. ghetto.

*kids in the ghetto seem to have different bed times. or no bed times. what other explanation could there be for 10 year old children playing in the street at 11:30 pm? don't make those kids mad though, or tell them to stop doing things like wrestling on the hood of your car, they'll throw rocks at your door...

*shopping carts belong in grocery stores. and on my street. okay, maybe "belong" isn't the right word choice here but, regardless, within the last several weeks, i have not gone more than a couple days without a cart siting, either being pushed along or just chillin, usually parked in some cock-eyed fashion on the sidewalk, because the pusher has broken one of the wheels that has been expertly engineered for laminated floor, not potholes and sidewalk cracks. an empty shopping cart doesn't stay in one place for long though. similar to bikes, they seem to be hot commodities around here [what else can hold that many empties???] and soon disappear until the next "owner" realizes how much work pushing a broken cart is. one morning, as i was contemplating life through my giant front window (see sidenote), i noticed yet another shopping cart across the street. not uncommon, barely worth noticing. a few minutes later, an un-marked white van pulls up, the driver hops out, heaves the cart into the back, and drives off. interesting.

[sidenote] this giant front window is possibly the best part of my apt. you can see a lot by looking out a window like that.

*one of my favorite "i live in the ghetto anecdotes" to date is the Baby Car Seat Anecdote. My previous upstairs neighbors had a baby. [well, they still do, but they don't live there anymore. so,,, had? have? hmmm] With a baby comes a lot of things, like car seats. Sometimes car seats break, or don't fit, or start to smell really bad, or need to be thrown away for some other reason. Whatever the reason was, the neighbors were trashing the seat, and it was hangin by the road with the rest of the throw-aways and recyclables [look how environmentally friendly we are here...] As i enjoyed my coffee on that particular morning, i witnessed five different people stop to "rescue" the car seat from the trash - in a span of about 20 minutes. my favorite rescuers drove by, stopped the car, reversed the fifty yards or so back to my house, put the seat in their car, and then brought it back five minutes later after realizing it was broken.

MORAL OF THE STORY: everybody wants a free car seat. everybody wants a free shopping cart. nobody wants a broken one. they only like broken bikes.

Roth Un-Buried

2009-07-10T11:16:00.004-04:00

Spent my fourth of july weekend embracing the current day hippie vibe at Rothbury, a four day music festival camping extravaganza. Headliners Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, etc. Pics are worth a thousand words:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007112&id=108200076&l=99c73962d5

I can't take credit for this shot - from the official site - but it does a fantastic job of capturing the epic-ness that was the Grateful Dead double set Saturday Night. I am in the crowd. Somewhere. Surrounded by craziness.

Lifeguards' Choice

2009-06-30T07:59:00.006-04:00

I could always tell if someone snuck a swipe of my “lifeguards choice” chapstick.

About three years ago, my friend Benjamin Sampedro introduced me to the most intense lip-protectant I have ever used: Burt’s Bees Weatherproofing Lip Balm. It’s basically straight beeswax and coconut oil with just enough titanium dioxide to turn your lips completely white if you aren’t careful (but hopefully not enough to give me cancer, apparently). A nice shade of purple can also be achieved by varying the amount applied… Anyway, Ben gave it to me as a gift. It was quite fitting, given the fact that I lived in Florida at the time, spent a good deal of every day in the sun, and was [still am] addicted to applying glossy and/or creamy type things to my lips. Either that or it was a practical joke to get me to unknowingly walk around with white lips. The absence of a make-up mirror on my bike ensured that happening a couple of times.

Regardless, the tube served me well and had great longevity. The longevity aspect is somewhat surprising, given the immense frequency with which I apply product to my lips. This perplexity is easily resolved by the fact that I could only apply tiny amounts at a time to prevent the white-lip look. Unknowing friends did not realize this however, and would so apply just like any normal chapstick. And I could always tell. [This is significant in the world of Alissa Jean because I don’t normally share lip products, or makeup in general. Call me a germaphobe but really, sharing chapstick is like kissing the person. I don’t feel like kissing everyone who forgot their tube of Burt’s Bees.] Tell-tale white lips were a nice way to maintain my small sense of "I know what's going on in my world".

Last week was the end of that era. After a thus-far cold and rainy June, summer has finally managed to break through to West Michigan. It has done so with a vengeance. Perhaps it’s making up for lost time, or maybe I’m just not used to the feeling of sunshine (what is that burning ball of fire in the sky? It looks sort of familiar…)

As the sun deigned to shine on West Michigan, raising the temperature about 30 degrees overnight, I felt obligated to soak up some of the rays. The outdoor pool at MVP (my place of employment) is a great location for doing this. It’s also a great location for going down water slides, running through sprinklers, and pretending to be a kid again, but that is a different topic. For those of you already thinking, wait a second, red heads don’t “soak up rays”, you are wrong. This was made quite obvious by the abundance of tan lines that made their appearance just in time for that wedding I went to. But again, that is a different topic. I am here to talk about chapstick, the thing that really matters.

It melted.

Restrooms located at the end of long, scary, smelly, hallway. Proceed at your own risk.

2009-06-17T15:26:00.005-04:00

I don't shop very often. Probably because I find it a terrible chore. This becomes quite evident when a relatively routine shopping trip becomes a philosophical contemplation of life. It's the whole doing-something new-and-broadening-your-horizons thing. Who knew you could get that from shopping.

Anyway, I went shopping. It was time for a new bathing suit. Actually, make that new bathing suit separates. Yes, the clothing industry has figured out how to make even more money off these squares of fabric: separate the tops from bottoms, charging individually and creating countless potentially matching combo's. Clever, delightful, and maddening all at once.

Thoughts from the day:

Why do they always put mall bathrooms at the end of long, scary, smelly, hallways? Seriously, walking around my ghetto neighborhood at night is not supposed to feel safer than taking a potty break at our materialistic headquarters. On my way to the ladies' room I passed a teenager being apprehended for shoplifting. I think. I sincerely hope the guy with the pony-tail was a security guard.

Feeling the need to provide someone with a running commentary of my shopping trip, I texted my dear friend Gazzo, asking about the whole bathroom at the end of long, scary, smelly, hallway thing. He astutely replied that it is done to scare customers shit-less. BuDumCrash.

Sometimes I wonder what tourists do when they come to the Midwest, especially foreigners. Not that I don't love the Midwest, and not that there isn't plenty to do, it just doesn't necessarily seem like an international destinatition. I am pleased to announce: I figured it out. They go shopping at TJ Maxx.

It makes sense. TJ Maxx captures some of the key elements of the American Dream, which is obviously what tourists come here to experience. Make a life for yourself. Announce to the world that you have made that life by wearing brand name clothes. If you haven't made that life, wear discounted brand name clothes and fake it. Then get a TJ Maxx credit card and keep faking it. Until you make it. Or break it. Your bank account that is. Or the life. I suppose, however, since we're talking about the American Dream here, they're one in the same.

[It should be noted thatTJ Maxx is not the primary activity for all foreign tourists. I made this discovery a few weeks ago when Grand Rapids was bustling with Asian Suits in town to celebrate Amway's 50th birthday. Walking around downtown videotaping and photographing *everything* was clearly a much more attractive use of tourism free time than shopping the TJ Maxx clearance racks. ]

Trends annoy me. To a certain extent. I mean, I'm not going to be all elitist and say how terrible they are and how I'm so above them and disregard the fact that imitation is the best form of flattery, BUT, they get under my skin. I like to have a certain element about myself that is so, just, alissa jean. I'd say "unique" but that's so cliche... I like to follow fashion and styles somewhat, but more as a general guide or source of idea, never as a hard rule. Rules, specifically in the case of style, although one can continue the thought further, are limiting. [this is why What Not to Wear is a terrible show] Let's say I need a new skirt. Even better, let's say I need a new bathing suit. Excuse me, bathing suit separates. Given the limited amount of time and money I am willing to spend to meet this need, I find myself limited to the basic trends of the season. IE, a bunch of stuff that all, basically, looks the same. And the killer is that if I do manage to find something a little different, other people are going find it eventually too, which will then take away any actual sense of different at all.

Take, for example, my bright blue, plastic sunglasses. I was, by no means, the first to wear shades like this. I was, however, one of the first in my circle of people. That made them cool. To me. Now, they are cool to other people too, and, instantly, less cool to me. *sigh* The challenges of life are such.

But I digress. Sunglasses shopping was a while ago. I was shopping for bathing suit separates. I did not find what I wanted at TJ Maxx, or the next few stores I stopped at. I did find, however, that TJ Maxx is onto something with their dressing rooms.

Step into a TJ Maxx dressing room and you are instantly cast in the most flattering light possible. You're tanner, skinnier, and damn that outfit looks good; you should buy it. Seriously, the folks of TJ Maxx are onto something here. The key to making a sale is convincing the purchaser of how good they look in the clothes. Strategic lighting and mirror set up can make a world of difference. Unfortunately for them, they didn't make a sale on my because, no matter how good I looked in that dressing room, the suits just weren't what I was looking for.

Finding what I was looking for proved to be quite challenging. Probably because I had such an idea of what I was looking for, exactly. I didn't just want a suit; I wanted a Suit for Alissa Jean. Knowing what you want makes finding something that just sort of works not enough. You want what you want and not anything less. [Until you realize that you need something, because something is better than nothing, especially when it comes to swimming in public locations...]

Gazzo (to whom I was continuing to provide a text message play-by-play of my shopping trip, poor soul) took this as an opportunity to remind me that happiness isn't getting what you want, it's wanting what you have. or something like that. He didn't actually say the whole quote, he just made a reference to it which I immediately brushed off with a "as if you need to tell me that". because, obviously, I know the quote so well... I got the general idea at least.

Regardless, I want to get what I want.
The circular irony of it all is quite beautiful, really.

Okay, so maybe these thoughts weren't quite on the level of philosophy. They were however, the thoughts of my shopping trip. Take them for what they are.

much love!

PS - I did, eventually find some suitable bathing suit separates.

Welcome to the Real World; here's a parking ticket

2009-05-07T10:45:00.003-04:00

Undergrad eduction - completed. This fact strikes me as pretty absolutely fantastic. Regardless of all that you'll-miss-it-once-you're-gone stuff, the fact that this is somewhat of a challenging time to be trying to start a career, and the ever closer repayment of student loans, graduation is an accomplishment, one that I am glad to claim.

The final final took place last night. Fitting, because it was for Communication Methods, the same class I did my research project for, the communication senior capstone. After somehow managing to study - thoughts of "I'll never have to do this again" and "job hunt job hunt job hunt" and "it's sunny outside" are a tad distracting - I did fine on the exam.

And Then.

Moment of Truth.

My prof hands me My Original Research Project*, completely graded and evaluated along with my presentation grade and eval. In the words of both the profs on my eval: Homerun! Really, I could not have asked for a better conclusion to my undergrad career. After putting so much time, thought, and effort into that project, the culmination of my communications major, it's very rewarding to have it come together so nicely in the end.

Presentation Saturday went really well also. I was confident in my material and delivery, relieved with the overall outcome of the question and answer segment, and so wonderfully supported by friends and family who came to listen :o)
Hardest part: Waiting until 3 pm. (What a long time to be "on".)
Highlights: Getting a laugh out of the audience, having ready answers for all the questions, visual aid working, wearing my brand new professional outfit, seeing everyone who came to support, and, again, that concluding sense of accomplishment. (Is it possible for accomplishing goals to be my love language?)

And now I'm done. With college. Wow. Obviously, that made this morning the perfect time for a walk in the woods. I head out to my car, all set to drive to some park away from the downtown-ness that surrounds me. Here's what I find on my windshield: "Your car is parked the wrong way. Pay us money within five days. Happy Graduation - Love, GR Police."

Okay, it didn't say exactly that, but you get the idea. Yes, my car was parked the wrong way on the wrong side but, really, I've been parking that way all year. Should be okay on a little backroad, right? Apparently not.

So here it goes, onto the rest of my life. Now that the walk in the woods and parking ticket part is done, I think I'll focus on cleaning my room.

*For those who so desire, I'd be more than happy to email you a copy of my research project :o) For those of you who don't desire to ever hear about my project again but happen to be communication students at Aquinas, sorry, but you're probably gonna get to watch my entire presentation in class. The profs tagged it for next year's example :o)

I'll sleep when I'm dead; now would be good too...

2009-04-23T07:35:00.000-04:00

Since some of you have asked....

My "Original Research Study" [also to referred to as my ginormous undergrad communication thesis project that has deprived me of sleep and stretched my brain in directions not accustomed to] is nearing completion.

The crowning end of it all will be my presentation on May 2nd. It shall be a glorious day, all of us comm seniors sharing the vast knowledge we have discovered through these undertakings. Yes, we are all presenting the same day.

You are in luck. This glorious day is open to the public! I am required to be attentive and dressed up for the entire production. You, however, can come and go as you please.

Here is the info: [slightly adapted from the published Aquinas Symposium]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alissa Jean Schafer - 3:00-3:25 p.m. Making Websites Click
Saturday, May 2, Upper Level Donnelly Center

The browser is opened, the website scanned, the mouse clicked. In a matter of seconds, the viewer is on to the next page, then another, and then a few more after that. What drives this sporadic clicking? Are there clear patterns in viewers' online behavior? What are the elements of a successful website? What makes it "click"? As newspapers continue to close and shrink, as market demographics morph with the online generation, and as economic tightness demands creative resourcefulness, an effective website is absolutely crucial.
This study looks at the specific issue of HEADLINES, even more specifically, top news headlines from top news sites and their use of rhetorical devices.
Consider it a headline anatomy lesson.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

I have talked about/stressed over/processed this project to some of you so much I feel like you've almost been a part of the process. And some of you actually were [part of the process] because you helped with my data; you're just extra cool. Thanks for all of the encouragement, here's to a successful next few days of writing and editing, and I'd love to see you May 2nd. Just smile and nod ;o)

contact me with any questions

Trampolines are good for more than just jumping...

2009-04-12T16:35:00.005-04:00

Biggest Easter-Weekend wardrobe concern ten years ago: Which brightly colored, flower covered dress should I wear?
Biggest Easter-Weekend wardrobe concern of 2009: Can I fit all of my dirty laundry in my trunk and will I have time to get it done during my short visit home?

Other line of thinking ten years ago: Thank God Lent is over! Now I can finally eat candy!
Other line of thinking in 2009: Wait, did Lent just happen? -and the thinking continues- Thesis, cover letters, resumes, homework, article, housing situation, summer plans, work...

Well forget it ALL, I am home, I am relaxing with my family, and I am going to go lay in the sunshine on our trampoline. God, I love sunshine.

Passion in a Dry River Bed

2009-02-18T08:55:00.005-05:00

Advanced Public Speaking with Prof. Dave Weinandy. One of the best classes AQ has to offer, if you're into that sort of thing. Lucky for me, I am most definitely into that sort of thing and I also just so happen to be taking the class this semester.

Basically, we give speeches every class. Sometimes they are a short planned speech from an assigned topic the week before, sometimes they are impromptu style, and, usually, we do some of both. Last class our assigned topic was "passion/something your passionate about... etc" [Dave's topics are usually quite conducive to us taking it wherever we want to, none of this rigid academic outline type format.] Anyway, I ended up prepping my speech in a rather last-minute fashion and to help myself organize my own thoughts I typed it out, something I don't usually do.

But hey, it's your lucky day! In case you've always wondered, and couldn't tell just by knowing me, you can now read all about one of my passions! [i say one because, really, i like to be passionate about a lot of things. that may sound cliche but honestly, if i really want to or feel compelled to do something, i'll be passionate about it, and, since i try to fill my life with these things i want to do and am compelled towards doing, i end up being passionate a lot i think...]

**the speech, as typed, fairly close to what i actually said, i think**

The sun is beating down, even in the early morning. It's gonna be a hot one, we can already tell.

The whole summer has been a hot one, really, but that doesn't stop us. Our group is two days into our camping trip, and today we're hittin the trails for a day hike; seven miles there and seven miles back to some scenic outlook point.

We strap on our day packs completely stocked with all the essentials, first aid kit, food, and plenty of water. We start hiking, we're having a great time, we're hot, we're sweaty, we're eating our snacks and drinking our water. Eventually our water starts to get low. No problem! Included in our supplies are water purifiers and maps showing all the locations where water can be retrieved.

We get to the first hydration point. Dry river bed. hmmm. We keep hiking on to the second hydration point. Dry river bed.

At this point, the situation turns into somewhat of a crisis. People are starting to get dehydrated, we've hiked too far to just go back to camp, and the chances of us finding water are apparently mighty slim. Long story short, we end up in the bottom of another dry river bed using our emergency cell phone to call the sheriff, who sends search and rescue, who brings water, which re-hydrates us, which enables us to complete the hike.

To some, that sounds like a day in hell. To me, it sounds like an adventure.

I love the outdoors and I love pushing myself, whether it's on a hiking adventure, or a run, or biking. I think one of the reasons I love the outdoors so much is that it gives me an arena in which I can not only push myself, but where I can go beyond the physical effort and determination and actually find myself and be the truest version of Alissa Jean Schafer.

Outdoors, I mean *truly* outdoors, not walking-across-a-parking-lot outdoors, being outdoors is one of the times when I feel most alive.

Maybe it's being in what I believe to be His creation, but there is something about the outdoors that brings me close to God. I feel a connection, a relationship, like we can communicate, and I *love* that! I realize that there are different situations in which you can experience God, in church and through people, for example, but for me, one of the greatest ways I experience Him is through the outdoors. Some of the most beautiful things you'll ever see are in the outdoors, and when a piece of natural beauty takes my breath away, I like to attribute that to God.

Now I don't know it's this "divine" connection, or the sense of peace, or the fresh air mixed with endorphins from being active, but I also find the outdoors to be incredibly inspiring. I cannot even begin to remember all the ideas, plans, and solutions to problems that have come to me while enjoying the outdoors. I know that if I need some out-of-the-box thinking, one of the best solutions is to go for a bike ride.

There is something about the outdoors almost forces me to be confronted with the real me. While I am still surrounded by plenty of "things" in the outdoors, many of the unnatural distractions are removed and I'm left with myself and my thoughts. Even in group settings, there is something about the environment and space of the outdoors that allows for introspection. In group interactions themselves, which often involve overcoming some sort of challenge, I learn about myself as well, in addition to creating a group bond and learning about others.

Now, it is SO TRUE, that all these things, pushing yourself, feeling close to God, being inspired, creative thinking, getting to know yourself and other, all of these can and do take place outside of the outdoors. For me, obviously, it happens in a big way in the outdoors. That's where it's at, and that's where a big part of my heart will always be found.

-------------------
note- the hiking trip might sound familiar to some of you, if you were lucky enough to be on that adventure! i tried to remember exact numbers as far as what day of the hike it was and how many miles we went... this is what i ended up with :o)

STAIRS!!!

2009-01-29T15:42:00.004-05:00

I slide my car into the Fulton St. parking lot, narrowly missing the cluster of AQ students haphazardly meandering about. Time check. Fabulous; I have three whole minutes to get to across the parking lot, into the heart of Aquinas, across one road, to the Academic Building, and up three floors of stairs to my class. Those darn stairs.

You would think, for the amount that I run and workout, that I should be able to get to class without being just a touch out of breath. I'll blame the high heels and heavy backpack...

Regardless, running up a few flights of stairs is a fail-proof way to get your heart pumpin and your lungs heavin a little faster than usual. It's also a way to see the top of GR's JW Marriot and support the American Lung Association, just in case you were wondering.

It's called Climb Grand Rapids, it's happening Saturday, February 21, and yes, it is a race.

According the posted race info, the first stepper will take the first step at exactly 10am followed by fellow steppers released at 15-20 second intervals {winners are determined by timing chips}. Two points:
1) I wonder who the lucky "first stepper" will be
2) This does not seem like a claustrophobic-friendly race...

The JW has 23 floors. That's 368 stairs up and the 368 stairs down, to be exact, slightly more than my dreaded trek to the third floor of the AB.

Best of luck to you, steppers! Especially Terrence Reuben. He's a Physical Therapist, Trainer, myTeamTriumph board member, as well as a dad, biker, swimmer, triathlon and marathon competitor, and is currently training for Climb Grand Rapids by running the stairs at Metro hospital between appointments... Inspiration anyone?

Adventures in Eco-Friendliness

2009-01-15T23:39:00.004-05:00

Eco-Friendliness: the ideal to which we, being responsible citizens of society, are all expected to abide by and strive for. [that's what *they* tell me, anyway] Personally, I'm all for saving the world, especially if it means saving a few bucks along the way.

Such was my logic when I decided to walk to the downtown MVP [gym] a couple days ago. Not only would I avoid adding to the car-emission-global-warming-causing-air-pollution-type-stuff, I wouldn't be using any precious gasoline (aka, saving money), and I wouldn't have to pay for parking (aka, saving more money). Besides, it would be a time saver too. Forget hopping onto a treadmill for a warm-up and cool-down; they would be efficiently rolled into my travel time. Obviously, the whole thing was a win-win situation.

Except for the part about it being unbelievably cold. And then the part about getting sweaty, ie: WET, and almost dying from hypothermia on the trek home. I hear cool-downs are supposed to be a little more gradual than instantaneous freezing.

Ah well, I survived, was eco-friendly, and saved a few bucks. How wonderful.

I drove the next day.

Positive Spin Vs. Spinning My Tires While Sharing Choice Words With This Lovely Season Called West Michigan Winter

2009-01-07T20:27:00.003-05:00

Snow hates me. Or maybe it's better to say: I hate snow. Or, most likely, both statements are true, although the possibility of inanimate, half-frozen, pieces of condensation possessing or expressing hatred is, granted, somewhat doubtful.

When I moved to Grand Rapids last year, people told me that it was the worst Winter in a long time and things usually aren't that bad. Well, congratulations Grand Rapids, you've outdone yourself again. Apparently the mild snow seasons' departure coincided perfectly with my arrival. Fantastic.

However, as someone considering a possible career in PR, I am sure I can put a positive spin on West Michigan Winter. This is, quite simply, an opportunity to highlight

The sunny side of the cloudiest months of the year:

Better outdoor workouts - While the speed of your walking and/or running maybe be slightly impeded, I am convinced that tromping through un-shoveled sidewalks, hopping over snow-plow-created road barriers, and constantly fighting the ice and slush in a battle to keep your balance, actually burns more calories than your standard sunny jog in the park where all you have to watch out for is the latest dog dropping and the occasional sun-blinded driver. [disclaimer- all benefits of this sunny side are void in the unfortunate but somewhat probable occurrence of a slip and fall resulting in a run-preventing injury.]
Increased circulatory health - For many of us, colder temperatures outdoors equate to colder temperatures indoors as well (who has extra money to toss to silly things like heating bills?) This forces our bodies to develop increased efficiency and healthier circulatory systems in order to keep our vitals from freezing. It also creates a stronger resistence to hypothermia. Additionally, the lack of vitamin D caused by the negligable amount of sunshine means our veins have one less thing to worry about disributing throughout the body, lowering their stress levels. [disclaimer - these statements are based on speculation and have not been verified by clinical studies.]
Greater variety in life - The daily grind can get old after a while. Get up, drive to school, drive to work, go to the gym, socialize over some coffee, come home... it's all fairly standard, fairly easy, and somewhat predisposed to becoming boring. Thank God we have Winter to mix up the schedule a little bit with things like car doors that are frozen shut, snow days and the resulting re-scheduling, and a new gripe topic for the water cooler. Not to mention the normally mindless commutes that instantly become both more exciting and longer, giving us the motivation and the time to think about what really matters in life. [disclaimer - again, all benefits of this sunny side are void in the unfortunate but somewhat probably occurance that the variety results in negative consequences such as being late for/missing important apointments or drives that leave the realm of exciting and enter the realm of dangerous, destructive, and definitely-expensive.]
Abundance of beautiful-ness - No doubt about it, a fresh coat of snow and sparkling ice can make even the northwest ghetto of Grand Rapids look, eh, less scary. Really though, there is something about fresh Winter-scapes, besides the negative farenhiet readings, that take your breath away. [disclaimer - emphasis is placed on the term "fresh". Old snow, muddy snow, car exhaust covered snow, etc. is gross.]

And there you have it, Alissa Jean's positive spin on the seemingly dreadful days of winter.

I would be so good at PR.

New Change

2008-11-25T19:38:00.011-05:00

[Not Obama/change. As if I would really write about that tired topic...]

I spent four dollars in a parking ramp today. I paid with a five dollar bill. I received a "Presidential $1 Coin" as my change. A coin. A coin that's a dollar.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Curious about the economic reasoning behind this new type of change, I looked up the official website created by The United States Mint. Turns out that this change is not an economic-reason-based movement.

And I quote: "The United States is honoring our Nation’s Presidents by issuing $1 circulating coins featuring their images in the the order that they served."

This whole thing is about honoring dead people!

Again, Im not sure how I feel about this. One would think, due to my being Catholic and all, that honoring dead people, asking them for favors even, would be totally up my alley. One would be wrong, at least in this case.

Don't get me wrong, I fully support honoring dead people, just not when it cramps my style. This "Presidential $1 Coin Program" cramps my style.

It probably cramps yours too. Think about it.

Most fashionable wallets are not designed for big, fat coins. They are designed for paper or plastic; maybe even both. True, some wallets have a little coin zipper deal going on. This little coin zipper deal is not adequate for responding to a government program.

I suspect inside deals with makers of coin purses.

Just what I need, something else to jam into my purse. I suppose they could be cute, but jamming things where there is no room is not. Getting an inordinately ginormous purse is not either.

Ginormous purses, although purported to make big butts look smaller, are a complete hassle. [Perhaps I will go on about this fact in a later post...]

Purses are already too heavy. Why add to the our epidemic weight problem by getting bigger purses to make room for replacing featherlight pieces of crumpled paper with hefty coins?
Just the other day, I received a sound scolding from a chiropractor because of the weight of my purse. I can only imagine how much worse the scolding would have been after a few days of getting change handing to me in the form of coin.

Increasing the weight of purses will undoubtedly lead to a higher number of chronic back pain sufferers who will then have seek medical care in the form of doctors, medical marijuana, and government bailout adjustments.

This is hardly what America needs.

From a different perspective, what about all those poor souls that are required to use cash registers at their place of employment? Have you looked at a cash drawer recently? Do you see a special section for dollar coins? No.

Clearly, America's infrastructure is not properly equipped for the introduction of dollar coins into the general economy.

-Yours Truly, The Ex-Economics Major

The GRAND Grand Rapids Marathon

2008-10-21T21:19:00.005-04:00

Who wouldn't want to race around a marathon course taking picture of people?! Okay, I guess maybe a lot of people wouldn't choose to do that on any given weekend, especially if it involved waking up 2 1/2 hours before sunrise, but I had an amazing time! And that what counts, right? ;o)

Anyway, I covered the GR Marathon this past Sunday, riding my bike around, interviewing cool people, and trying to figure out how to take pictures of thousands of moving bodies.

I am now a big fan of marathons. I almost want to run in one. But not quite.

I do, however, have a lot of admiration for those who do run marathons, and quite possibly even more admiration for all the staff, volunteers, and fans that make races the awesome experience they are. Running 26.2 miles wouldn't be quite the same without row after row of people cheering you on, not to mention all the random stuff the runners get offered. Water, Gatorade, Vasoline, energy gel (?), mylar/space blankets, t-shirts, medals, chili, beer, the list goes on. [some of those items were offered during the race. some were offered after. just to clarify.]

Another chunk of my admiration goes to the AQ Cross Country team, a kid named Matt Smith, and a super cool charity called My Team Triumph (mTT). mTT is super cool because it helps people who are disabled complete events like 5Ks, marathons, and triatholons. Matt Smith is super cool because he's a disabled kids with a lot of spunk who completed this, as well as three other races. The AQ Cross Country Team is super cool because they're the ones that pushed Matt's racing stroller.

And you're super cool because you're gonna be reading my story about the AQ team's involvement in the upcoming issue of The Saint and the feature story I'm writing for Gemini about mTT next Spring! *PLUG*PLUG*PLUG*

Anyway, it was a fantastic experience, and I learned a lot about covering huge event like that. How sweet it would be to bi-locate, or freeze time for a few seconds while I set up the perfect photograph, or block out at least some of the noise so that the interviewee and myself can focus on our discussion. In retrospect though, all those challenges are a part of what make events like that what they are = EXCITING and AWESOME.

check out my pics on Picasa but please note, all shots are copyright yours truly only, at least until I figure out which ones are up for publication.

Much Love!

Better Than a Water-Boy

2008-10-21T21:07:00.006-04:00

“Gatorade! Gatorade! Gatorade!”

Five year old Jake Sokolove calls out to the marathoners flying by. In his outstretched had is a paper cup, emblazoned by Pepsi and filled by Gatorade. Red Gatorade to be exact.

An over-enthusiastic runner grabs the cup, spilling most of it onto Jake’s arm. Red Gatorade now decorates his MSU coat. He doesn’t mind though. “They lost!” he says, referencing the MSU/OSU game.

He quickly runs to the Gatorade table, grabs another cup, and returns to the race trail, completely dedicated to his role in the marathon hydration service: “Gatorade! Gatorade! Gatorade!”

Jake had just completed the Big House 5 K a couple weeks before, running the entire thing. Impressive, for a five year old! He seems to be taking after his dad, one of the volunteer coordinators at the “Aid 6” running station.

Located approximately 8.5 miles into the marathon, just after the bridge over the Grand River, Aid 6 was one of my favorite places on the course. Jake Sokolove was one of my favorite people.

Race on, kid!

Bad Decisions in the Name of Waking Up

2008-10-12T12:04:00.005-04:00

Ways to wake yourself up to do homework, or other things you need to be awake for:

A. take a nap in your car in the meijer parking lot
B. consume a lot of caffine
C. workout
D. give yourself an adrenaline rush by making bad decisions
E. all of the above

I choose E. At least, I did this past weekend.

I had just finished helping out with a "fall harvest festival" [as a side note, i'm not sure why people feel compelled to include the word "harvest" in the title of events that take place in the fall. not like we were actually harvesting anything, or celebrating a harvest, really.] I was tired. I needed to go grocery shopping. Solution = rest my eyes in the comfort of my cavalier in the parking lot.

Half an hour later I am awakened by some lady walking past my open window whining into her cell phone about a $300 phone bill. Maybe she shouldn't talk so much.

Anyway, I groggily decided to get out of my car and head straight for one of the starbucks which are located conveniently 15 yards from me at any given point in time. this one was inside meijers. i place my order: espresso over ice. that's it, straight, black, and beautifully caffinated.

"you look like you need something with a lot of caffine" - lovely starbucks barista.

Fantastic. Thank you.

Fast forward............... Now i'm at my apartment. No way am I getting homework done yet. Bike ride!

Bike rides are usually great ideas. This one, as a result of bad luck and bad judgement leading to bad decision, was not.

The bad luck part involved an accelarated sunset. Seriously, WHEN did it start getting dark so fast. One minute I'm biking along in the golden rays of autumn sunshine and the next i'm straining to see the fence that i'm about to crash into.

I suppose the bad luck of sudden darkness plays into the bad judgement and decision as well. I had decided to bike on a section of the kent trail system - one of my favorite biking places close to downtown GR. It's a wide paved trail, curving through trees, past parks, and along, over, and around the grand river. In other words, somewhat treacherous in the dark.

Normally, being in the dark doesn't bother me much, so i decided to keep going. then i almost flip over the handle bars because i just hit a hidden pot hole at full speed. but i keep going. i reach the segment of the trail that is apparently a one way street for cars. apparently cars only drive here at night, and apparently, my expereince is very reliable.

the first couple cars surprise me but, whatever, I keep going. then comes "scary car". it's coming towards me, lights off, completely dark windows, with some sort of huge dog hanging out of the passenger side.

that's it. the mp3 player is turned off. i am now at full alert.

i keep going, because there is NO way that i'm turning around to follow "scary car". i figure i'll go a few minutes more to put some space between us before i turn around and high-tail it home.

then come the motorcycles. six of them fly by. seriously, what else is this trail used for at night? i decide i don't really want to find that out at that moment.

i'm about to turn around when another car starts coming toward me. this one, thankfully, has its lights on, but, not thankfully, decides to pull a U-turn after passing me. i guess the one-way rule doesn't apply to everyone. as the car comes back towards me, i decide it is now time to go home, immediately, well, as soon as i get out of the way of the U-turn car.

i "hide" in the shadows on the shoulder, the car, thankfully, goes past me, and i blaze toward home.

my mp3 player remained off. my knuckles remained white.

multiple hidden potholes and energy boosting adrenaline rushes later, i pull into my driveway, safe and sound.

i don't remember if i actually got any homework done that night.

The Noted Fashion Photographer and Former Model...

2008-10-08T23:25:00.005-04:00

...Nigel Barker.
Best known as one of Tyra Bank's sidekicks on CW's America's Next Top Model, as well as judge and producer for VH1 series The Shot, Barker is also a successful photographer in his own right, working in his NYC studio and around the world.

Grand Rapids, Michigan is obviously the best place to find him.

But only if the date is October 2, 2008.

I like to know what's going on in the world. Who wants to go through life limiting themselves to the boring routine of daily habits that have seemingly formed with no direct authorization from you? Okay, maybe a few people do want that, or if they don't want it, they are at least satisfied with it. I suppose there is a certain comfort in always going to the same places, seeing the same people, eating the same food, and smelling the same smells. But not all the time. Routine may be beauty, but variety is the spice of life.

Since I function off of schedules and lists, my solution is to schedule variety as part of my routine. It works beautifully. Sometimes.

Regardless, I was in the midst of finding out what was going on in the world when I discovered that Nigel Barker was coming to Grand Rapids as the keynote speaker for the Grand Opening of the Richard Avedon photography exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM). Sounded like a great opportunity to practice some initiative and interview skills. Besides, I needed to break-in my new voice recorder [olympus WS-110 - highly recomend it so far...]

Long story short, I got my name on the media list and ended up with two awesome interviews, GRAM director Celeste Adams, and Nigel Barker!

For you Nigel Barker fans out there, I've posted a few highlights of the interview in the posts below this one. Enjoy the charming accent ;o)

DISCLAIMER: voice recorders are great tools, for learning, self-review, remembering quotes, and increasing humility. There is nothing quite the same as listening to yourself perform one of the first major interviews of your life. Thoughts such as: "is that really what I sound like?" and, more self-kickingly, "why didn't I ask ___?" are very common. I'm sure somewhere down the road I'll look back on these learning expereinces with nostalgia...

Facebook Album with shots of the exhibit and Nigel

A good place to start

2008-10-07T09:40:00.000-04:00

Balancing Act

2008-10-07T09:15:00.000-04:00

Changing Perceptions

2008-10-07T09:10:00.001-04:00

Hot topic...

insert follow-up question *here*. next time.

Digital Craze

2008-10-07T09:05:00.000-04:00

thank you shelby for this question idea!

hear that painters? it's easy for you! you just have to be good! simple!

Season 11

2008-10-07T09:00:00.001-04:00

Had to ask...

too bad CW doesn't stream full episodes online anymore.

Cutting Class to go to the Movies

2008-09-14T21:00:00.005-04:00

Destination, Bullshead Tavern, 188 Monroe. I’m not sure exactly where that is, but downtown Grand Rapids isn’t too huge so I leave myself plenty of time and head off in search of this fine establishment.

The flood lights, hydrolic lifts, truckloads of equipment, police tape, and huge crowds are a dead giveaway.

The target of my search immediately switches to parking. No need for a young lady to walk too many blocks by herself at night. Relatively close parking spot secured, I focus on the next task at hand, getting past the crowds, police, and security, into the tavern, my original destination.

Quick re-wind to a couple hours before. I’m at AQ, ready to go to class, when my editor [I'm interning for Gemini Publications] calls and informs me that press were just granted permission to go on set for a shoot for upcoming movie The Steam Experiment. He wants to know if I can go. Let me think about that one.

Okay back to the crowds, police, and security.

The whole block of Monroe in front of the Amway is blocked off and lined with people. Cell phone cameras are out, necks are straining to see, the celebrity search is in full force. Luckily, I have a contact name, the film’s executive producer, and so am escorted through security, across the street, and into the tavern as I hear someone in the crowd ask “Hey, who’s she? Why does she get to go in?” That alone is enough to give anyone a mini ego-trip. ;o)

Inside the tavern is slightly chaotic. The extras have been super-glued to their chairs, the production crew is running around fixing, testing, measuring, setting up, and looking stressed out in general, a lowly PA is carrying somebody’s coffee, make-up is standing to attention, ready for touch-ups, the press is jammed into a corner, and oh look! There’s the mayor! [okay, I’m just kidding about the super-glue thing. It’s a great metaphor though; one of the extras left his seat to talk to somebody half-way through the night and almost lost his head at the hands of a set director.]

There I stand, trying to take it all in and figure out who I should try to interview. More press trickles in including WOOD producer Aaron [I recognized him from my internship last fall; nice to be able to say hi again] as well as the other local news stations, a GR Press writer, an entertainment reporter recently transplanted from London to Detroit, a few other movie website writers, and another GR magazine writer. I’m still figuring out how inter-press relationships work. It’s an interesting crowd, really nice and dynamic people, but the skeptical, abrasive, and competitive vibe is definitely present and accounted for.

I am snapped out my ponderings as Armand Assante walks in. I’ve got to admit, the only way I was able to put the name with the face is because I Googled him before-hand, [hey, whatever works] but still, I recognized him and he’s a pretty big name for GR.

Assante is soon seated at the end of the bar, handed a blackberry, cigar, and drink [props], and seems rather oblivious to the fact that he is now the center of attention. Light meters are thrust in his face, equipment adjusted, photographers snapping away, and extras on full alert.

“Quiet on set!” the command is suddenly shouted. And it begins. The scene is about 30-40 seconds long and involves the lady-bartender making small talk with Assante, him throwing her some cheesy one-liner, her walking away, and him talking to another character on his phone. That’s it. So simple and straightforward, yet requiring about a million takes. Approximately.

About two takes into the shoot, director Philip Martinez stops everything and offers some loud encouragement to the extras. He bellows in a strong Italian accent: “Give me some life! This is Grand Rapids on Friday night; give me some life!”

As the shoot continues on into the night, a few things stick out: (would a post be complete without some sort of list?)
· The mirrored walls of the tavern have been covered with “wood” panels, held there by tape. The tape does not work very well. PA’s scramble to keep the panels from falling in between almost every take.
· Speaking of tape… one of the production crew has the job of taping marks all over the floor for different shots. She has about 10 different colors of tape on her belt and is wearing a bright pink t-shirt. She becomes “cool-tape-girl” in my mind.
· Assante has his own vocal warm-up before most scenes. In between the various production commands being called out, he calls out his own phrases, sometimes mimicking the production (“background!”) sometimes nonsensical sounds (or maybe that was Italian…) and, my favorite, “Fun, fun, fun. Everyone have fun” in the most deadpan/loudest way possible.

Fast forward to about 2:00 am. I emerge from The Chop House with Assante, having spent the last hour or so tag-team “interviewing” him in the House’s cigar lounge with another magazine writer. [A little intimidating at first, but interviewing director Martinez earlier in the evening had loosened me up.] I bid him farewell, get a handshake, hug, and business card, and head off to my car, trying to process what just happened.

One thing is crystal clear. My internship has become approximately 10 times cooler in about 5 hours.

...and SeniorYear is off and running

2008-09-10T11:15:00.006-04:00

(*’s represent words thought but not actually spoken)

Me: My key card doesn’t work.

Campus Security: What do you mean?

M: It doesn’t unlock any of the doors on campus.

CS: It’s not supposed to.

M: Wait, so I don’t have access to any of the buildings?

CS: Nope

M: Why not?
*isn’t that the point of key cards...*

CS: You’re a commuter student.
*and therefore have been moved to the bottom of the college totem pole*

M: *damn*

I don’t think I was quite prepared for the complicatedness of the whole not-living-on-campus thing. Just saying. Between starting classes, moving (twice), beginning an internship, picking up a babysitting job, getting involved in UCO, and figuring out senior year life stuff in general, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind of discoveries. The sentiments expressed in the above example seem to be the common theme in each adventure. As with most themes, there is a positive and negative side to things.

On the positive side, I am developing a laundry list of lessons learned. I will share a few so as to not keep so much personal enrichment to myself.

Using water instead of milk in instant jello pudding mix results in chocolate soup, not pudding.
Speed-bumps are meant to slow you down.
Bed frames are optional pieces of furniture.
Achieving a good GRE score will take a lot of work.
A three-week apartment renovation will take longer than three weeks.
I am internet dependent.
Utility companies have no qualms about using either the “hold” or “hang-up-on-customer” button, ironically making it harder for you to give them money.
The distance between idea and reality can be painfully humongous.
The class Small Group Communication is more enjoyable if you actual enjoy group work.
Reconciling the differences of other people’s perspectives is more manageable but ultimately less helpful and necessary than reconciling the differences within yourself.

These, as well as other lessons learned thus far, have lead me to the words of Socrates “As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.”

How true, how true indeed.

In other news, I am investigating as to the hidden location of my “creativity/problem solving on-button”. If you have a tips for this on-going search please call my personal toll-free hotline also known as the Verizon network.

Worth A Thousand Words?

2008-07-27T17:00:00.004-04:00

in supplement to the post i already published about my recent trip to pennsylvania:
it's a bit long, almost 15 minutes, so i had to render it in a lower quality in order to post it up here. thus the small size/choppy-ness. oh well, someday i will have my own site that will have high quality video streaming and i will not need to provided excuses for my work :o)
in the mean time, enjoy my video. it is the first project i have done using adobe premiere pro so everything was very learn-as-you-go.
drop me a line if you have any tips!

Just when you thought you found stability...

2008-07-24T11:51:00.007-04:00

It seems to be a general rule of thumb that land (the physical dirt and rock solidness of earth) is pretty stationary. Land doesn't usually move around much; I do. Michigan would never wake up one morning and decided that it was tired of being in the Midwest and was going to join its friend Florida down South. Sure, there's all that tectonic earth plate movement stuff, the rumors that our beloved California will fall into the ocean, the occasional volcano, mudslide, tsunami, or other enormous calamity that rearranges the landscape, but, relatively speaking, geography is one of life's few constants.

Unless, of course, the geography in question is a piece of lake shoreline in East Grand Rapids, MI.

So it's a breezy day and there I am, sitting on a park bench by Reeds Lake, reading a book for my internship, half listening to the Mid-life Crisis concert going on behind me. Being the deep thinker that I am, I take a moment to reflect on the paragraph I just read and turn my gaze to the water. The fishermen are casting their lines. The sailing students of the Grand Rapids Yacht Club are trying to keep boats from tipping over in the wind. The geese are flying over the, wait, when did Reed's Lake get an island?

I must have a terrible memory, because there is apparently an island, right in the middle of the lake. It's small, not much more than some of Reed's reeds, but definitely there. Strange that I have never seen it before, seeing as Reed's Lake is decidedly one of my favorite places in the GR area.

Upon further scrutiny, I notice something strange. As the waves continue to lap against the island, it seems to be moving steadily across the water. Weird. Must be some sort of optical allusions caused by the horizontal movement of the waves against the reverse motion of the clouds... Whoa, this is making me dizzy... Nope, it's not that; the island is definitely passing lake homes on the horizon...

East Grand Rapids is falling apart.

Red Tail-lights to Rolling Hills...

2008-07-18T20:33:00.007-04:00

Summerville, Pennsylvania, is in the middle of nowhere; beautiful, rolling hills, nowhere. It's a place that's worth going to... and then going back, and then going back again, and maybe even staying for a summer, or longer.

A little over four years ago, my entire senior class (all 17 [?] of us, NCCS '04!) went on a service trip to help the people of Living Church International and Dominion Academy, a non-denominational congregation and school. The church has roots going back 25 years, while the school is still very young. Both are growing. Over the past four years they have purchased a huge old school building and have been working ever since to remodel it. Relying on God's providence and going with His timing, they have zero debt. [considering the magnitude of their project, and in the context of my ungergrad business student thinking, zero debt is amazing, to say the least.]

Since our senior trip, groups have continued to go back, partly to help out with whatever project is currently underway and partly just to visit the wonderful people of the community. Usually the visits are fairly short, several days, maybe a week, but a few "visitors" have taken it to the next level. Classmate Dalton Gatlin has been there since last October and will be staying at least another year, teaching, working around the school and farm, as well as participating in Pastor David's internship program. Erik Hemingway and Matt Hall, also classmates, are participating in the internship program as well.

Seeing as such a large chunk of our class was already there, several of us back in Lansing decided that this would be a great opportunity to make a trip ourselves. After an excessive amount of facebook planning (134 thread messages, to be exact) Josh Puuri, Mike Kogut, Claire Cherniawski, and yours truly, finally managed to get ourselves organized, in a car, and on the way to Penn.

After some blinding rain, a closed McDonalds, a creepy rest-stop, lots of 3-11, a few zombie scares, and several hours of me apparently talking too much, we pulled into the Shay property, waking everyone up just long enough to unload, say a few hellos, and find our beds. The bed part was important, because, not believing in wasting time, we were all up and at 'em early the next morning. [this seems an appropriate time for me to express my undying love for caffeine]

the next few days went by really quickly and were full of lots of goodness. I am always inspired by the vision, joy, and dedication to God's work that I see in the Shay family, as well as everyone at the school and church.
consequently, there's a lot to say about the weekend as a whole, but here are the cliffnotes:

we moved/sorted scraps - drywall to old windows
clean, clean, clean [shopvacs are great inventions]
erik and josh did something that involved putting mud type stuff in-between the bricks. the technical term escapes me
i broke the weed whacker after about 20 seconds
raked stones
all the boys played on the scaffolding/built skylight type things
bailed hay [o.m.g.]
the boys also played on the roof/hung steel siding type things [okay, to be fair, they weren't playing, they were truly working hard]
bbq/volleyball victories
cleaned the house with pastor karen, but, more importantly, listened to her amazing life stories
claire vacuumed up about a million dead bugs to the tunes of jars of clay
SABBATH REST - takes on a whole new meaning after hard work
chilled with bev and the shay kids - who seriously rock
bonfire
guitar - because claire is amazing and brought hers
church service marathon - catholic mass at the crack of dawn, living church bible study, and then living church service[insert correct term here]
good conversations with old friends
FOUR SQUARE
i was introduced to the music of RED - seriously amazing
on the way back to lansing, we had lunch in a jewish deli with our classmate David Van Hal, now young adult pastor at Newsong in Cleveland, plus we got to see the current church, the soon to be church/ex-fitness center, and his cubicle. all very cool.
i also took a lot of photos and video, which is in the editing process - coming soon!

in conclusion to this lengthy post, i've decided i really have no choice; Summerville, PA is one of those places that I just have to return to :o)

A Reluctant Role?

2008-07-18T10:37:00.005-04:00

"You're a great role model!" how that phrase twists me up inside.

Really, it is a great compliment, and I should be honored that it seems to be haunting me. Parents see me as someone they want their daughter to be like, youth see me as an example for them to follow; cool? Sure, but "terrifying" seems the more appropriate adjective.

I think my negative reaction to being placed in a role model-role is two fold.

Number One: What are these people thinking? They obviously don't know me that well if they consider me such a great example.
Number Two: Increased sense of responsibility. Dang it. This role-model thing means that people are watching what I do and how I live, looking up to me even. I suppose that would make me a sort of leader, which just highlights the already present truth that my decisions and actions affect more than just me.

*insert internal struggle to get over myself here...*

Somewhere in the 16th century, John Donne coined the phrase: "No man is an island." But wouldn't it be wonderful if he could be? A beautiful tropical island that could be and do whatever he pleased without influencing or affecting anything or anyone? In all reality, no, that would be terrible. In community and fellowship humanity is able to thrive. However, as much as our positive actions build and support each other, our negative actions tear down and weaken. Back to the role model thing...

[definitions provided by alissa...]

Role-modelitis - the human condition/tendency to follow, regardless of their personal level of independence or individual leadership abilities and uniqueness. Everyone is following someone. Even those who have not consciously selected role models are continuously being influenced by those who surround them. Therefore, we are all role models for someone, probably many someones. The role model responsibility cannot be escaped.

Role-modelphobia - the fear of accepting that responsibility based off the knowledge that said role model is far from a perfect example to be modeled after, as well as the fact that decisions and actions of said role model affect and influence negatively as well as positively.

Reconciling the two - we are all role models; whether I like it or not. It is therefore in the best interest of both myself and the rest of the world for me to accept the reality and responsibility that I am a role model and act as such.

Great. Problem solved. Do I have to?

Pull Up Your Pants - Or Else

2008-07-06T17:04:00.007-04:00

Understatement of this blog: Flint police have their hands full.

According Flint Crime Statistics and Data for 2006, the number of violent crimes in Flint is 469% greater than the national average. (2596.1 violent crimes per 100,000 people in Flint versus 553.5 per 100,000 people nationally.) Of those violent crimes, 54 were murders, 143 were rapes, 627 were robberies, and 2246 were aggravated assaults. (Compared to 6 murders, 105, rapes, 262 robberies, and 800 aggravated assaults in Lansing, for those interested.)

Despite these alarming figures, recent action seems to indicate that the police department could use a heavier work load. Police Chief David Dicks has proposed that "Fashion Patrol" be added to their job description. The style in question: sagging pants.

While already considered a fashion faux pas by some, Dicks takes disliking the buttock-baring-low-riders to a new level stating that: "This immoral 'self expression' goes beyond freedom of expression; it rises to the crime of indecent exposure/disorderly persons."

But really, what are they going to do if you decide to cruise around the beautiful downtown Flint in your beloved baggy bottoms? Well, if Dicks gets his way, the punishment for such "immoral self expression" would be no laughing matter: a fine of $500 and up to three months in jail.

Investing in a belt could be worth it.

Seriously though, I find this measure to be a little on the crazy side of insane. Add it to the ever growing list of pointless and unenforceable political/legal initiatives.

Perhaps Dicks is simply trying to draw attention to the issue. If that is the case, he has been successful, seeing as I heard about this on the radio, read about it online, and am now writing about it. However, getting people to talk about baggy pants isn't quite the same as getting people to rethink their fashion sensibilities.

There has been an outcry, of course, that the measure is meant to target young black men. The Flint Police Department is racist because they want people to pull their pants up. Take it for what it's worth.

Additionally, it seems that there is some confusion over what qualifies as sagging pants. Some quotes refer to baring of skin (which is already prosecutable as indecent exposure, so why would they need...) while others refer to baring of underwear/boxers.

Not sure where you are going with this, Flint.

*random fact related to this post - In the prison sector, sagging your pants is considered a statement of homosexuality.

Addicted

2008-06-05T21:53:00.000-04:00

I had an idea. (Big surprise, I know...) I should go backpacking. How about someplace remote, beautiful, along the water, Northern Michigan area-ish, just for a few days, before the summer is over. And how about I go alone. The solitary backpacker girl.

Not surprisingly, the idea continued to stick for some time. (Some time being approximately several days.) I haphazardly began to explore this possible adventure, imagining different itineraries into the wild, Googling "best hiking trails in michigan", and debating whether I would need a sleeping bag.

Then it hit me. A giant wave of concern. Would I be able to survive?

I'm not talking about the physical endurance required and dangers encountered while backpacking. Obviously. I am the ever invincible young adult. Right?

No, I am talking about the fact that a solitaire game of backpacking would mean hiking mile after mile after mile in silence. Setting up camp in silence. Cooking in silence. Packing in silence. More hiking in silence. Repeat the next day. And the day after that. No mp3 player (batteries only last so long), no everyday chit chat (who would I say good morning to?), no debates, heart to hearts, or superficial comments, no Pandora, no online streaming anything, no car radio, nothing. [while I'm at it, I may as well add Facebook to the list. Sure it's "silent" (unless you're playing videos), but it practically screams from my laptop "check me! check me!"]

Would I really be able to handle that for an entire trip?

I decided to do the logical thing: a mini-test run. I laced up my electric blue Mizunos, grabbed a stopwatch, and headed out the door. Time for a walk without headphones.
An hour later, I was back. I had survived exercising music free. And actually, it wasn't all that hard. Here's the thing: even when I take the headphones off, there's still plenty of noise going on between my ears. I guess it's called thinking.

Sure, I think when I am surrounded by noise. Very rarely is it even possible to be in complete silence. (Try and find silence in an everyday place, I dare you.) But there is something different about thinking when you consciously choose to remove noises that we are so, dare I say, addicted to.

I can only truly speak for myself, but based on observation and conversations, I think many share my addiction. In the best interest of the health and sanity of our human community, I have identified eight tell-tale habits of a noise addict. See if any of these apply to you.

Turns on radio, music, or television show within 30 minutes of waking up
Radio is always on while in the car
Cannot be alone with another person for more than fifteen seconds without saying something (or feeling immensely awkward if you don't)
Does not walk any distance over 50 yards without a) using cell phone, or, b) listening to an mp3 player
Leaves television on for background noise
Proclaims to work better with loud music
Will think to self "I should turn some music on" and then realizes it already is
Is going deaf

In self-defense, these do not all apply to me, all the time, but I think they could, if I let them.

There is something potentially frightening about silence. Left alone with my thoughts, stripped of comforting distractions, I encounter myself. My dreams, my fears, my scattered musings and observations on life. I imagine new ideas, receive inspiration, solve problems, and add lines to my interior narrative. I search, I discover, I listen. For the Vision, the Direction, the Voice.

I don't always like what I find. And if I find something good, there is a perceived responsibility to do something with it. Good things are never meant to be left unused. So, sometimes, I guess I would rather not look.

Backpacking by myself, through the Northwoods of Michigan, I would have little choice. I could always start singing to myself. Or talking to the animals. Or singing with all the voices of the mountains. Or painting with all the colors of the wind. And diving over waterfalls. Oh wait. That was Disney Pocahontas.

Directions to Above Location Provided by Mapquest(ion)

2008-05-17T09:50:00.000-04:00

Mapquest is impressive. What other simple online program uses easy left/right directions to instill such high levels of confidence in its users? The trek may be 500 miles, the location entirely unknown, the driver a complete travel novice, it really doesn’t matter. With a few clicks of a mouse, a Mapquest user can get colorful, concise directions from point A to point B. (The more advanced users may even add a point C.) Directions in hand, the traveler sets forth, assured of the fact that they will travel those 300 miles in approximately 5 hours and 9 minutes.

How could they possibly go wrong? Of course they’ll make that meeting, catch that flight, be at that wedding. Through use of their internet-savy, Mapquest users have found THE way to reach their destination. Mapquest is, obviously, infallible.

Except when it’s not.

This undoubtedly occurs when the Mapquest user is already in dire straights. For example, trying to find the airport to catch a flight that closes boarding in 10 minutes.
It is inescapably times like this that Mapquest leads its users astray. Faulty mileage estimates, misnamed streets, or directions that are just plain wrong. (For example, 600 W. Oak Ridge, Orlando is the address of a dilapidated gas station, NOT the airport.)

That is why smart travelers are wary of the Mapquest-instilled confidence and leave themselves plenty of time to do things like u-turns and stopping to ask for directions. This extra time prevents frantic scenarios that involve running barefoot through the airport, high heels in hand.

Not that I would know.

[Stacy, I owe ya one.]
[I prefer google maps.]

Once Upon a Sunday

2008-04-21T09:44:00.000-04:00

Once upon a Sunday, I went for a bike ride.

I found some inspiration, and I named it sunshine.

That inspiration is the downhill ride over the potholes of winter.

It is the mud splashed on my back going through puddles at full speed.

It is the discovery of a new park, a new bike trail, a new adventure.

It is the wide open fields and the prospect of exploring them.

It is a ladder and the desire to climb to the top.

It is the family going for an afternoon stroll.

It is the bikes parked on the muddy trail where people decided to hike.

It is the sweat from my brow and the tears from my eyes, crystallized on my face.

It is the pain of climbing a hill and the satisfaction of reaching the top.

It is the stories behind the faces. The faces in cars, on sidewalks, in parks. The

baby in the stroller, the fisher on the bridge, the boy in the baseball field.

Inspiration, illuminated by the April sun, discovered on a couple of spinning wheels.

EastTownExplosion

2008-03-23T16:31:00.000-04:00

Here's what happens when there's a gas leak in East Grand Rapids.
Interesting pics by yours truly:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2004539&l=672a4&id=108200076

Experiencing Lake Effect With Alissa

2008-02-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

i enjoy my use of music and title clips in this one :o)

i shot this about a week ago and the lake effects of the west michigan winter 08 have not let up, at all.
take today, for example. in the course of a few hours, grand rapids recieved about 12 inches of accumulated snow. (i've got to say accumulated since the 12 inches doesn't take into account the already fallen snow. that stuff blows around like it's trying to be fresh snow all over again)
any way you look at it, 12 inches is a lot of snow. especially if you drive a tiny cavalier and have to treck across town in the peak of the storm.
seriously though, i now know how to get up a snow covered hill without sliding back down. there's nothing like a sense of moving backwards to turn you into a quick study. basically, for those of you eagerly awaiting this life-saving lesson, you accelerate on and off and turn the wheel back and forth. you're sort of zig - zagging up the incline. except for the fact that you're hardly moving at all so the zig zag motion is effectively minimized.
zig-zagging up hills is officially the most exciting way to get home from work.

hope you enjoy(ed) the video ;o)

a winter wonderland adventure

2007-12-20T01:50:00.000-05:00

all in the name of on-camera practice :o) i'll let the video say the rest

random musings with alissa schafer

2007-12-15T18:29:00.000-05:00

My first semester at Aquinas is now finished. Christmas break has begun. I don't have school to do, and yet I'm still in Grand Rapids. In the next couple days I will be finishing up editing for my demo tape at WOOD and interviewing for a new internship next semester at Grand Rapids Community Media Center. Word. I feel really good about the grcmc internship so I'm hoping that it works out. That would be ideal. I'm also hoping that an actual paying job comes through as well. I've got a few resumes and applications circulating but nothing has come through for sure yet. Anyway, life is good, regardless.
I had a babysitting job lined up for tonight but it just got canceled because the kids are sick. Bummer, but I appreciate not having to watch sick kids. Having a babysitter when the kids are sick is incredibly inconsiderate in my opinion. So, family that I was going to babysit, thank you for being considerate :o)
I was going to sleep the other night, as is my usual pattern when night comes, when I started to randomly think about the hiking trails of Gaming, Austria. I got to know those trails very well during my semester there. Apparently I still do. It was a little crazy how clearly they were pictured in my mind, so randomly too. I remembered the mountains, hills, and specific boulders and trees. I think a little piece of my heart is still there, completely at peace in the beauty of it all.
*BREAKING NEWS* this just in, literally. So, I'm at Urban Mills coffee house downtown GR and this random guy just came up to me asking if I was online. I had seen him come in with three kids and he seemed like a nice guy so I determined it safe to answer his wierd question. Yes. Turns out he had been at the YMCA (i love the Y btw) with his kids and had locked his keys in the car. He didn't know his wife's cell phone number and didn't have his phone so he needed to use my computer to access his email and then my phone to call his wife to come rescue him. Glad that worked out for him. I have great empathy for all those who lock their keys in their car, seeing as I have done it at least three times. The last time I did it was the worst though, because I didn't actually do it.
Allow me to explain... I thought I did, called the lock opener people, and then proceded to find my keys in a previously unchecked pocket. What made it "the Worst" is the fact that I still had to pay the lock opener guy, for moral support apparently, since he did nothing except talk to me. In my own defense though, I was wearing a hoodie and a vest and had my purse and pockets on my pants so there were a lot of pockets to check. I just missed the crucial one.
Well, my comp battery is about to kick it so this has been random musings with Alissa Schafer. Tune in next time, for, eh, more.

good morning moon!

2007-10-09T17:24:00.000-04:00

you know, like the children’s book Goodnight Moon?
I stepped outside this morning for a bike ride, and my breath was taken away. Not only was it oddly cold *, but it was still dark out and the stars and moon were shining their absolute brightest for as long as they could. Reason number 34985 for waking up early.
There’s some completely un-capturable beauty in the transformation from night to dawn. It boggles my mind that so many people will never appreciate this aspect of the world. Well, I can understand, so maybe boggle is too strong a word. Heck, sometimes morning just comes too early to appreciate anything about it except for the fact that you’re alive to see it. But to get beyond that is to see some serious glory.
Anyway, as I looked up at the sky, I was overcome with the desire to fly. Not fly as in the fantastical, me just in the air type way, I was actually thinking flying in an airplane. Think about it, I’m in my 6th consecutive month of not flying. That feels weird for me, almost not right. I haven’t traveled. I’m still in Michigan. For almost half a year!?!?
I realize that this urge to move is a little crazy. I mean, realistically, relatively, whatever-ly, 6th months is nothing. Sure it speeds by to me, but speeds by with a sense of weight. I do have the urge to move, to travel. [the euro to dollar discourages that a little, but not a lot] But the thing is, I'm right here, right now, for a reason, and it would do me no good to run away.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t actually have big negative monsters to run away from. Life in Grand Rapids, Michigan is great! I was actually thinking recently what a good place to live GR is. Aquinas is great, people are great, everything is great, peachy even. But that doesn’t take away the bug.
Maybe that’s why I love to bike.

*not odd for October, but odd

so long mary, hello thomas!

2007-08-19T22:14:00.000-04:00

for those of you who may still be confused, i'm not returning to ave maria this semester. actually, as i type this, i'm in my new apartment at aquinas college in grand rapids michigan. yes, i am officially a transfer student :o) [major: business admin. minor: journalism/publications.]
so far, AQ is *great*. classes start tomorrow so i'll get back to you after that. i have two awesome roommates, love the apartment, and managed to avoid going into bankruptcy buying my books (it was close though. would you ever pay 170 for an accounting book? lord have mercy! thank goodness for used books online...)
random observation: there are a MILLION redheads here! it is SO weird! okay, there's not really a million, actually, there's a lot less than a million, but regardless, there seems to be a disproportionate number of us. not that it's a bad thing though. i mean, look at me, right? yes, redheads are amazing...

beautiful physical exertion

2007-08-07T14:40:00.000-04:00

There are many random things in everyday life that inspire me; golden sunlight, hearing the perfect song, delicious coffee, interesting soundbites, hugs, thought provoking phrases, and seeing people exercise, that one especially.
For an activity that so many people consider tedious, or even torturous, i see something so beautiful in people using their bodies at high heart rate levels. i guess exercise is a way to use the gift that we have been given in our bodies. we have always been meant to move and there is true beauty in fulfilling our purposes in life. such as going for jog.
Over the past couple months i've seen a lot of people exercising in the lands of holt and okemos, and, as weird as it may seem, i find myself inspired every time.* not necessarily just to exercise myself, but just plain inspired about nothing in particular. (or everything in particular) So here's to all those independent athletes who push themselves day after day. thanks for inspiring me.
Here's to the moms i see every morning running with their kids in a stroller.
Here's to the old lady who's always walking her dog.
Here's to the guy doing martial arts in the field.
Here's to all those incredibly in shape runners who go so much fast than i ever do.
Here's to everyone who isn't worried about getting dirty, sweaty, or having bugs stuck in their hair;
you guys rock my socks off.

*a few exceptions: when i get passed on my bike by some hot shot with a $500 bike and blazing orange spandex riding jersey who thinks he's all that, when a jogger's outfit is, eh, unflattering in the worst way possible, when people take up the whole road so i almost hit them with my car, these things are not inspiring. i also don't really find strength training very beautiful. lifting weights just isn't the same as covering distance. (but some strength training is an important part of any balanced exercise program so i make myself do it even though i'm usually self uninspired for its duration in case you were wondering) :o)

one with nature and, roadkill?

2007-07-08T01:57:00.000-04:00

Going for a bike ride in the evening is pretty much the AMAZING! I know, because i just did it! I don't mean evening as in dark, although that is sweet as well, I mean evening as in that hour right before sunset. Absolutely glorious.
I'm not sure if it's because of the season, time of day, the fact that bikes are much quieter than cars, or that i'm just way more aware of my surrounding on a bike [vs. a car], or, most probable, a combination of all the mentioned, but i have been seeing a LOT of deer in the fields of Holt lately. I LOVE it!
Being able to see the beauty of nature really adds to the thoughtfulness of a good ride. I'm pretty sure that nature is especially beautiful in those moments before sunset. It's as if the fields are rejoicing over a good day and getting dressed up for one last kiss from the sun before slipping into the elegence that is night. What a glorious kiss it is. THAT is my favorite color of sunshine. The intense, golden rays, that seem to make everything they touch absolutely beautiful.
It especially favors deer because of the natural red color of their coats. They shine, golden amber in the fields, each a little mirror of the sun's beauty itself. I love deer. They are beautiful, graceful, and powerful.
***So the other day i'm riding my bike (you know writing about bike rides is the coolest thing ever) and i'm havin a grand old time.
Enter Alissa's train of thought during this particular bike ride...
oh my gosh it is beautiful out here today
-bump-
stupid potholes.
ooo there's deer in the field!
hey this is cool, i'm biking at the same speed as them running, sweetness, i'm like one with nature [yes, i use the word "like" in my thoughts]
ouch! darn bug, wonder if there's a mark on my face
whoa! the deer are gonna cross the road right in front of me!
this is so cool!
ok, truck approaching from behind at full speed, keep bike on shoulder, check
darn, i guess the deer won't be crossing any more
oh wait, yes they are[at this point the truck slams on its brakes to barely avoid hitting the buck about 20 feet ahead of me. the buck happily prances across the field, its friend still on the other side of the road continuing to run alongside my bike.]
hey! that was cool! i was really close to the deer.
that truck definitely almost hit that deer.
shoot that would have been pretty dangerous for me.
i wonder what happens when a 250 lb. deer flies off a windshield into a bike rider?
glad i didn't find out.
ew, there's a dead deer in the ditch.
dude, you would think deer would learn from their friends - do not cross there. you will die. guess not
hey! the other deer is still runnin with me!
ooo i like this song
what should i make for dinner?
...and so the train of thought continued.
***

biking in the snow and saving lives

2007-06-03T16:01:00.000-04:00

mmmmm life is so good :o)so i've been biking a lot lately and, as you know, biking usually takes place outdoors. as you also may know, i am in holt right now. holt has an incredibly high number of cottonwood trees. when it gets to be about this time of year in holt, the cottonwoods do this crazy dandelion-type thing where they just shed this enormous amount of white fluff-balls everywhere. you're walking, driving, biking, and it's like it's snowing! cept it's wicked hot and humid. anyway...the other day I rode to burchfield and then went hiking. it was a beautiful day, i'm just hiking along, minding my own business, lost in my thoughts, when i notice there's a man laying on his side next to the trail up ahead. oh no! maybe he's hurt! have no fear, miss alissa-certified-in-first-aid is to the rescue!!! oh wait, he's just with some girl. nevermind.
*side-note - after some thought, i realize it's very important to use caution when rushing up to "hurt" men when hiking by yourself, especially if you're a woman, for several reasons. i think that would be refered to as common sense.

home again, home again

2007-05-28T00:06:00.000-04:00

and there was great rejoicing! and sleeping, and visiting, and job hunting, and unpacking, and biking, and re-adjusting.
so, i'm back in good old holt, MI, and it is glorious!
NET was absolutely AMAZING. Definitely where I was supposed to be these past nine months ("where" being all over the USA) Great experiences, growth, fun, and basic undescribableness are ways that i can try to explain "how it was".
It was tough saying goodbye at wrap-up week. Dealing with emotion has never been something i like doing, in fact i don't really like it and don't often cry. I cried. Several times. but ya know, life goes on; i miss my team, i miss NET, but even more so, i am excited for what is in store...working at a video store???
hmmm, so when i was thinking summer job back in lansing, i was hoping it wasn't going to be quite the challenge it turned out to be. ah yes, the big hurdle of finding people to hire you for a few months, those people numbering close to ZERO. i called about a million and 5 dif. places, filled out apps, resumes, etc etc and thankfully i have a tentitive part time serving job at this cafe in holt, and a possible job at a video store and/or grocery store depending on interviews in the next couple days. not first choices but i'm willing to do whatever I can I guess, seeing as i need the big bucks for going back to school and i am officially a dirt poor post-missionary student.
and the big bucks will be going to: hmmm not sure yet! either aquinas in grand rapids or university of st. thomas in st. paul. i'm still waiting for financial aid to get figured out and then need to make a decision. both good choices for dif. reasons in my opinion. we'll see!
so yeah, i am in MI for at least a couple months, which feels wierd for me, but, regardless, call me if you want to hang out and once my work schedule gets figured out, or before, let's party! i'm totally up for some good times with my friends, dance party, coffee, good discussion, lol i feel like i'm writing an ad. i'll stop now. love you guys! for real!

whirlwind update

2007-04-07T18:18:00.000-04:00

it's been a little while
wow. so much has happened since i last put anything up here... like going to OR for a few weeks, undergoing massive amounts of team changes, a bunch of retreats, experiencing LA, and finally crashing for a few days to celebrate easter! how to cover so much ground in a few minutes... hmmm
* northern cali and or are absolutely beautiful! i love the beach, got to spend some good quality time there, go on some good quality bike rides
*mariano had to go home, that was a hard blow for me to take.
*andrew also left for a little while - also hard for me to take, but he's coming back tonight
*in the mean time, ernie and kyle joined our team. fun times
*i have come to realize a little more what it means to be a minority. nothing like doing a retreat for 130 kids and the NET team being the only white people there!
*venice beach is pretty much amazing. so many interesting people! we stayed in a house literally on the beach for a night and had some fun exploring
*now we're at kaylene's house for easter and it so good to relax and celebrate easter!
i'm trying to discern what to do this summer/next year but also want to focus on finishing out the year strong! have an awesome easter!

snow day in california!!!

2007-02-23T23:04:00.000-05:00

well folks, who would have thought, a snow day in california. yep, that's right, we were supposed to do a retreat today, cuz that's what we do, you know, retreats everyday, but it got nixed this morning because of around a foot of snow. the city we were going to is in the mountains so that explains the snow.
the crazy thing is that we're less than an hour away and it's still sunny and in the 60's today! it was a bummer to not be able to go up the mountain and do the retreat, but we've had a nice relaxing day instead. i went on an awesome run and am now at victoria gardens, chillin.
life on team five is going pretty awesomely. definitely had some ups and downs lately, a big down being danielle leaving the road for surgury, a big up being fun times with the team, rockin prayer, bike riding, and being able to chill. i don't know if i mentioned it before but i'm learning how to play djembe which is sort of like a big bongo drum. anyway, i have fun pounding on it. can you picture it? alissa the drum player? i'm also working on guitar. hopefully i'll be able to lead songs on retreat in the next couple weeks. that is slightly nerve wracking but definitely something i want to shoot for. stretching yourself - it's a good thing.
speaking of good things, i'm still figuring out what i'm doing next year. job offers for this summer would be appreciated ;o). anyway, i gotta run, take care ya'll! much love!

i love sunshine

2007-02-05T23:02:00.000-05:00

it's been a little while, but that's ok, i'm a busy girl with limited computer access.
so what's up with me...NET!!! yep, that's my life these days. in case you wanted more details:
we're in so.cal. right now. isn't that funny? so.cal. as in, southern california. hehe makes me smile. but honestly, a lot of things make me smile lately.
i've definitely been hit with a case of giggles many times on retreat in the last few weeks. can't get through much without laughing it seems. the best was when i totally lost it while teaching the superman grace to 90 some kids. it was so bad we had to switch graces. just finished up an awesome weekend retreat in the mountains. it pretty much rocked! led it with nathan, that was cool, the team worked together really well together, that was awesome. yeah, it was super cool. went hiking in the mountains every day. sweetness.
so the other morning i went running by a prison and didn't even realize it till i got back. great, huh?g
ot my ears double pierced. didn't tell anybody. none of the guys noticed. big surprise. made for a fun game with nathan though.
profound thought: don't sweat the small stuff
anyway, gotta run. don't know when the next update will be.
much love!

coming to you live from MAINE

2006-11-23T11:25:00.000-05:00

happy thanksgiving!
ah yes, another thanksgiving away from home. a little sad, but ya know, it's pretty awesome anyway, seeing as i'm right here with absolutely wonderful people in a BEAUTIFUL state :o)
but anyway, to rewind, i have a few minutes before i get picked up...our supervisors visited over the weekend and it was pretty rockin. highlights included:
some awesome team prayer timefinding out our spring route - WY WA OR CA!!!
talking about love languages in women's session
this crazy team building activity which included getting stranded at bowdoin college by our supes (they left tire marks) and following this 2 hour scavanger hunt which involved multiply "injuries". ie - at each clue several people woud either go blind, break a leg, go mute, etc. and would have to be assisted by the team. at one point i had a broken leg, was blind, and mute. what i learned: well, lots of things, but a big one was that i hated not being able to talk and not being able to see just made it even worse. it was a good time, lots of life lessons and such, even though it wasn't "fun" at all times for me. more later!

NET life, not computer time friendly but otherwise amazing!!!

2006-09-21T02:31:00.000-04:00

basically, now that i'm NET, my computer time is seriously limited and rare, thus causing less frequent updates :o(
to summarize so far - i'm on team 5, we rock, we're going to ohio, new york, maine, connecticut, and west virginia in the next three months, we had our first retreat today, it went awesomely well, i'm in charge of being a greeter and team finances, and i love NET. it is crazy busy/long/tiring/promisingly stressful but i am so sure this is where i'm supposed to be. i love my team sisters!!! the brothers are great too.
write me letters! (110 w crusader ave, west st paul MN 55118)
love and miss you guys!!!!!!
alissa* - TEAM FIVE - THAT'S HOW WE ROLL!

that time of year

2006-08-24T02:23:00.000-04:00

well folks, the time has come, tomorrow morning i'm catching another plane out of Michigan. i seem to be getting into a pattern of leaving michigan, but i have also noticed that i always come back. that, in my opinion, seems to be a very good thing. i will never stay away forever. on the other hand, it seems there is a lot for me elsewhere as well, thus the frequent leaving. hmmm. more on that later i guess. HERE'S TO NET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i'm leavin, on a jet plane...

last days in WI

2006-08-05T20:02:00.000-04:00

yep, so here i am at camp northwoods, 8 days from going home. wow. this has been one of the most intense summers. lots of fun, lots of work, lots of learning, lots of everything. my last session is going pretty well, nothing too hard, at all. yay for conflict revolution! i've learned a lot about that this summer.
i'm trying to hurry up an get off the computer because somebody is waiting and my free time is almost up. ahhhh!!! anyway, i'm home on the 13th and if you live near me you better make the effort to at least say hi to me before i run off to net!
much love to ya critters! (critters is what the australians call their friends, i think, or maybe it's an insult and they're just not telling us the truth...)

ninjas in the rain

2006-07-24T15:49:00.000-04:00

ninja warfare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yep, so that was the game that we all played here at camp northwoods last night and it was an absolute BLAST! basically you run around hitting people with wet sponges and noodles cept with more strategy. we all got so into it. picture alissa sprinting up and down this field screaming like a crazy woman "pink! pink! pink! (our team) come on come on! we need swords! we need swords! bombers! go! go! go! go! we've got your back! attack!!! ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! we need medics! medics! where are you! go! go! go! attack!!!! ahhhhh!!!!!!" pretty sweet :o)
AND part way through it FINALLY started to rain! like downpour! so we all got soaked and were running around screaming like crazy in the field til finally lighting and thunder drove us in. ahhhh fun night.

key moments in the life of peach - that's me

2006-07-19T22:05:00.000-04:00

so, camp is going well, for the most part. i'm with the counselor in training program - older girls - so it's been cool but different. it's a more laid back program because the girls need less babysitting but as such my time off is less clear and there's always random things keeping me busier than ever.
one of my girls also ended up in the hospital as a result of a tackle game i played with them. ooooo. bad.
we also had to call search and rescue from the bottom of a dry creek bed because we had just hiked 7 miles and all rivers and creeks were dry and girls were getting dehydrated and we had to hike 7 miles back to our site and had zero water left. exciting, eh?
i had an interesting evaluation too. man. i've got stories coming out of my ears. i'll have to tell em after i'm done here though i think.
the reason behind my title: so today we took the cit's to Bonajance's - a native american who was a key member of the founding staff of the camp way back in 63 - anyway, we talked about a lot of stuff and one of the things we did was go around and have everyone talk about a pivital moment in their life and basically everyone cried - including yours truly. it got me thinking. a lot of the girls pivital moments were sad ones too. dang it, i have zero time to write all the thoughts in my mind right now! ahhhhh!!!!! k gotta run. love you all!

happy trails!

2006-06-20T22:02:00.000-04:00

hey kids! sorry, stuck in camp mode... so yeah, here i am on day three of my happy trails 11 day program and things are going absolutely awesomely. it is one heck of a schedule, GO GO GO but i'm enjoying always having something to do.
just got back from a horse ride with my girls (who are AWESOME) and i would like to announce that i now know how to saddle my own horse all by myself! yay! i got in the saddle all by myself too, and groomed the giant, AND navigated cones in the areana. no matter that all my junior high girls can do that with their eyes closed...
this morning we went swimming/kayaking. i rolled one of the girls kayaks in a rowdy game of tag (don't worry, it was the lifeguards idea) so it was good that they had already practiced re-entering the kayak from the water. things got a little crazy, i think all the girls rolled at least 3 times. that's one thing, my girls definitely are crazy/hyper but so far in the best way possible. yay! and the best thing is, they have yet to wake me up in the middle of the night. *hoping and praying that continues*
anyway, gotta run back, just wanted to let ya'll know that peach is alive and kickin
much love!

camp!

2006-06-14T18:59:00.000-04:00

wow. so i have been in camp training up here in WI for more than a week and a half! this is really the first chance i've had to sit at our one computer. even so, i have to leave in like 10 minutes. anyway...
There are about 30 staff at the camp - one guy, the waterfront director - and so far we've been making a great team. for the first few days we were all housed together in the one cabin unit (it actually has electricity!). that was really good for an easier transition into "rustic-ness" and since we were all living in the same general area we got to know eachother better. (for clarification, our one guy lives in his own tent.
day beore yesterday we found out what groups we were going to be in charge of for the first camp session (there are several throughout the summer) and then we moved to our new units, splitting up all over camp. my first session is going to be a horse program called Happy Trails! i'm the only counselor doing it which makes me a little nervous because i'm brand spanking new, but i am really excited. there are only going to be 4 girls in the program and they are on the older side so hopefully we'll be able to have a lot of fun. (4 is pretty small for a session, there's a lot of other groups going on as well with more people) anyway, for this session i'm in a platform tent. yeah. now that i've been in it a couple nights i think it's pretty sweet but wow, it is really DARK. there isn't a single light in the whole unit or anywhere near, not in the tents, the shelter, or the latrines (yeah that's right, no normal toilets for us!)
the first night i ended up walking back to my tent by myself and i about freaked walking through the trails and finding my tent in the dark. this is definitely the middle of the northwoods. throughout training we've gotten lots of talks about dealing with animals/preventing them from coming to your area. so yeah, there are definitely lots of black bears in northern WI. exciting, eh? we've talked about lots of other stuff in training too, lots of it interesting, some of it controversial, and some that i really don't agree with, but i guess i kind of expected that and i have to leave now anyway so i'll talk about it more later. :o) in general though, CAMP IS GREAT!!! send a letter if you get the chance! i might get a little lonely up here :o)
much love~

hey, my bed's on the floor

2006-06-09T21:48:00.000-04:00

here i am, back in good old michigan :o) after a good sleep-in, i spent pretty much the whole day unpacking and trying to reorganize my life. easier said than done. especially when your mattress is on your floor because your aunts who used your room while you were away didn't like to climb up the bunk so your already limited floor space is now close to zero. hmmm. but it went surprisingly well, all considered. nothing was really broken either.
i got a little scared when i saw the boxes that i mailed. seriously, they hardly resembled boxes anymore, even with the "fragile" sticker all over them. kudos to the us postal service...
colorado was absolutely wonderful!!! i had a GREAT time with aunt sand and uncle jon and cousin maria and cousin monique and aunt jeanette and cousin marie and cousin paul. (ah, the joys of having lots of relatives) seriously folks, denver is an *awesome* place to be. the NET stuff went well too, i think. [sidenote to update: i'm applying to do NET - national evangelization team - i was in dener for the interview weekend that i was invited to.] more about that in the next few weeks i guess...
on another note: aviod the newark airport at all costs! not only did i have big delays flying both ways through, on the way home i totally got lost! first time EVER getting lost in an airport! you'd think i'd have more trouble in an airport where everything is in foreign languages, but no, newark did it to me. i'll spare you the gruesome details. all you need to know is that i did end up making it to my flight on time, even though i had to go through security all over again...

off to become a girl scout

2006-06-05T02:08:00.000-04:00

well then, bags are almost packed, last minute laundry dry, paperwork completed, boarding passes printed, mp3 player updated and fully charged, bedroom clean, i even made myself a lunch for tomorrow! time to hit the road...
it has been a good break here in lansing. i have really enjoyed being to hang out with my family and friends and just *be home*. ahhh. and now it's time for my next great adventure!
on one hand i am so ready to get going. breaks are nice, but if you know me you know that i like to be active and productive. never want to feel bored and useless, ya know? so yeah, it is really great to get to work now. on the other hand i hate to leave. my grandma is still in the hospital so my family is still dealing with that. that's been a challenge for me too. i'm not sure why, but it is really hard for me to be in the hospital and it's so hard trying to communicate with my grandma when she's slipping away... it's hard to leave friends too. with all this jumping around i do sometimes it feels like i just start to really develop relationships and then i'm off to someplace else. i understand that's part of life, friendship come and go and change but it would be great to be always close with all of my best friends all of the time, you know? basically, what i'm getting at, is that now i'm gonna miss my lansing friends just like i miss my florida friends just like i miss my austria friends and so on. i had this really wierd/sad dream last night after everybody left the party. i was hugging my friends goodbye (in the dream) and all of the sudden they vanished so i was like hugging the empty air. one of the first dreams that i actually remember for a long time and it's a sad one. bummer.
anyway, i need to sleep a few hours at least before the drive to detroit airport @ 5 am tomorrow. man that's gonna come way too soon. yay for sleeping in airplanes!!! i love you guys a lot! send me a letter while i'm at camp! the mailing address is on my facebook or you can ask my parents for it :o)much love! God bless!

summer travels so far...

2006-05-30T21:52:00.000-04:00

life oh beautiful life
so it is most definitely starting to warm up around mi.
summer has been absolutely amazing so far. weekend before last i went to PA with claire, lindsey, mike v, dj, erik, jeremiah, dalton, and matt (old classmates) and we helped the church that we helped on our senior trip. they're starting a classic christian school and are completely re-doing this old building. we did a bunch of cleaning, painting, pushing dirt around, and moving heavy objects (well it was mostly the guys that moved heavy objects). we got to spend a lot of time with pastor dave and his family too, just chillin out and having good conversation. they live on an absolutely beautiful piece of land out in the hills of PA. pastor dave is a real cool guy; he has all these visions of what he wants to do with the land, a visionary, plus he's just very determined, dedicated, driven, and smart. after sunday lunch he took some of us on a hike over one of the hills, showing us around, telling stories, teaching us how to whistle with grass (i failed completely), and giving us soybeans to eat. yum.
anyway, it was really good to be back with my classmates. it was definitely what i would call WIERD being in the exact same place i was two years ago with some of the exact same people but not in the same situation. i mean we're all the same people in one sense but in another, we've all changed. we've all got different ideas, plans, and views to some degree, most of us have experienced lots of different things in life, some good some bad some hard and some just exciting, we all have different friends and separate lives, but at the same time, we're the same people and we're still friends. it is so good to be able to share life with friends like that for a little while. life is so interesting like that, you move in and out and on, people and friendships come and go and change and the adventure continues.
speaking of adventure, i leave for WI in less than a week!
this past weekend (after hibernating for a couple days because of some flu thing) i went to the traditional memorial day camping trip. it was a good time!did some serious relaxing, chatting with friends, stargazing, campfiring, etc. not enough sleep, esp sunday night but it's all good :o) anyway, i think i'm gonna mail some of my bro's open house invites for this saturday so i'll catch yall later!
much love!

bragging rights

2006-05-16T01:46:00.000-04:00

i had this crazy idea, so thursday, me and 6 other cool people biked to marco island and back. yep, that's 50 miles of hardcore biking. as lucy said when we got back: "i feel like my own hero!"

the day the batteries died

2006-03-20T13:49:00.000-05:00

So usually when i ride my bike i listen to my cd player. i like the whole having a soundtrack while you fly down the road thing. it makes the trip go by quicker and keeps it interesting as well. but anyway, a couple days ago, the batteries in my player died. now they do this pretty often because i use them so much but this time i decided not to replace them because i had just ordered a flippin sweet mp3 player that i was expecting any day. why buy batteries for something i probably won't be using a lot, ya know? but in the meantime, i had several SILENT bike rides.
have you ever just let your mind go, see what floats into your stream of consciousness, and then back track your thoughts to see how exactly that idea got there? it's really pretty crazy the random things that i'll think about. i swear, i'm like all over the board in my head.
i can't deny that i am looking forward to having music while i workout again, but not having it for a few days was pretty enlightening. sometimes it is really good just to think, with no distractions. it's actually kind of scary. it's like figuring out what kind of person you really are, getting to know yourself. i find myself thinking about so much; plans, ideas, dreams, ambitions, relationships, money, practical issues, outfits, new exercise programs, things i want to try, people i should talk to, problems i want to solve, things i need to work on, god... yeah, there's a lot going on in there. it's so good to actually take the time to allow myself to be confronted with all of that though...

spring break adventure, right here in florida!

2006-03-15T13:28:00.000-05:00

American Civ.... what?
yes, i did vanish for some time there. i'm back though :o)
right now i'm sitting in my first class after spring break, american civ, and i have to confess that i am not paying attention at all. some girl is giving a presentation on some party system debate. blah. i'm actually really proud that i showed up at all to take the quiz we had this morning. how awful is that? a quiz over like 80 pages after our spring break.
speaking of spring break, it was absolutely ridiculous - friday through tuesday - three school days off. nice. *sigh* oh well, i still had a great time, just wish it was longer, you know?
friday i chilled and then went to work and then saw 16 blocks with a few people. *good movie* saturday i woke up way to early, biked to work, worked, then worked out and biked to the beach for a couple hours, and then came back, ate, and took a nap. when i woke up, there was a semi-party goin on in my room so i danced around with claire, clare, and ann marie and then went and partied at the state park beach til like 3 am.
sunday - went to mass and then the beach again and then worked out with rachel, made popcorn the old fashioned way, almost melted my roommates canola oil bottle, and then watched kicking and screaming.
monday - woke up and rode to the beach. adam met me there and we chilled for a little while. that afternoon i attempted to work on my history report but was fairly unsuccesful. then andy gillies came! yeah! we went and caught a sunset at vanderbilt beach and then got some amazing seafood at steamers. (go there) that night, we went down fifth and to the pier with mike, patty, adam, james, ryan, alison, brendon, katie, mandy, catherina, and peter. some people were fishing for sharks but they didn't catch any while we were there. andy stayed the night with tom, ben, and dan after multiple warnings to "watch out". but yeah, those guys are all talk and they didn't do a thing :o)
tuesday morning i ralled the troops and we (me, andy, rachel, brendon, and catherine) hit the road for marco island by 10:30 am. i don't think andy was quite awake yet. all five of us fit into andy's probe so that was pretty exciting. marco island was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. the water was great, the beach was great, the day was great! we all got some major sunburn though, especially andy. in fact, i don't think i've ever seen somebody burned like andy. you should ask him about it sometime. hehe, poor guy. on the way home we hit up tropical smoothie - yum. that night andy and i went to the mall where he tried to get me to spend money but i strongly resisted. then we watched Walk the Line on my laptop on the beach until my battery died and then we came back to campus and finished it where i could plug my laptop in. good movie. then andy left, i saw a couple roommates who were just getting back and i collapsed into bed.
and now - spring break is over, i'm still sitting in american civ, i have a huge paper and presentation to write, and i want to go ride my bike. maybe i'll get some coffee first.

don't worry europe, i'll be back!

2005-12-20T02:31:00.000-05:00

HOME SWEET HOME
well, the day finally arrived. i actually did leave austria and am now sitting in my very own bedroom back in holt, michigan. ahhhhhhhh. my feelings right now? man, it is good to be home. while it is true that saying goodbye was pretty tough, and i will miss europe so very much, it is also true that it's just plain good to be back. i haven't had a chance to see any friends besides erin yet, but it's been absolutely wonderful just being with my family. i might as well just say it: i love my family!
so yeah, today i got all unpacked, now have a mountain of laundry to do, and am fighting off jet lag. i woke up at 4 am even though i didn't sleep at all on saturday. bummer. i did fall back asleep for a little bit, but now, i, am, falling, asleep. good. night.

opera, thought, and finals

2005-12-10T22:54:00.000-05:00

so yeah, it's like 2 am over here but i don't feel that great and it's freezing in my room so i'm gonna give an austrian update. not sure how those two reasons lead to that conclusion but who cares.
ever been to an opera? i have! just went to see the marriage of figaroe in the vienna opera house with ave (plus john from fus and adam from iti). it was absolutely incredible!!!! none of the ladies were wearing the horn hats in case you're wondering... the place was completely sold out but we got standing room tickets for 3.50 directly behind the folk that paid over 100. pretty sweet if you ask me. only sad thing was that i had majorly wanted to see the nutcracker but it just didn't work out ;o( big bummer. oh well, opera was still amazing. the whole opera house gave them a standing O at the end.
so it's finals week. right. that thing called studying... i actually had an early final on friday. it was oral. it was easy. so now on to the real ones. i actually brought aristotle's ethics and read while waiting in line for the opera. true, i only read a few pages but it's the thought that counts right? between our austrian dinner/talent show/dance that we had last night and our trip to vienna today i figure you gotta do something that at least reminds you of something called studying.
oooo yeah, maybe i should sleep
one more thing. i realize that i have put up about a million and one pictures of me these past few months and that could be seen as egotistical. i'll stick with the reason that i just happen to be in amazing places with amazing people having amazing times and wish that i could share it all with you! point of the story: check out my facebook photos!
http://avemaria.facebook.com/photos.php?id=108200076&l=2bea5

the amazing weekend trips aren't over yet!

2005-12-05T21:26:00.000-05:00

well, the semester is officially drawing to an end. in less than two weeks i will be back in the good old united states of america. wow. what an insanely awesome semester it has been.
so this past weekend - a quick recap before finals work begins thursday night - took a series of trains to cologne germany. it was pretty crowded and yeah i slept maybe a couple hours total. at one point we had this random guy in our car that offered us pear schnapps or whatever it was.
friday - arrived at cologne completely tired but made it to mass in the main cathedral right outside of the station. pretty impressive place i'd say. then got back on the train and headed further to brussels, belgium where we met up with 2 other ave girls who had gone to munich earlier.
while in belgium we were incredibly lucky to stay with this family that maureen's mom knew. they took SUCH good care of us! showed us around the city, got us all drinks, made us a belgium dinner, gave us chocolate, the works! great time! again, the hospitality inspires me!
saturday - maureen, chris, and i all spent the day in paris. we only had a short time so we hit the main stuff, louvre (saw the mona lisa and my personal favorite, winged victory stature) notre dame, Eiffel tower, as well as the church of st. catherina of liboure (miraculous medal...) that night we met up with everyone else and the two older sons of the family we were staying with and just hung out in brussels. i had SUCH a good time! i was incredibly tired but had some coffee and then this warm seasoned wine stuff which was sooo good and yeah i pretty much had a great time being completely slap-happy as we walked around all the st. nicholas celebrations downtown.
sunday - went to church with the fam, had a nice lunch together and then they took us to waterloo, the giant atom of brussels, the cathedral (one of my favorites) and then dropped us off at the train station. (it was so nice to have somebody taking care of us like that!)then we pretty much traveled all night. i was able to sleep a few hours before getting back to gaming at 630 in the morning. bryan was super cool and came to pick us up from the station and then i went to sleep for a couple hours before getting up for class. woooooohooooo! now to the homework that didn't get touched this weekend!

the universal principles that tie us together

2005-12-01T10:20:00.000-05:00

so this is how they celebrate thanksgiving in austria:http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlkmZRO7OX%2bQn5vm5imdP7%2b7GuRaEA9BEd9WGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
actually, it's how AVE celebrated because, yeah, thanksgiving is an american thing! i was really touched by how everyone worked to make us feel at home though. and the fact is, while the holiday of thanksgiving is american, the principle of thanksgiving is UNIVERSAL!
off the belgium... lots of love

what thanksgiving break?

2005-11-24T21:22:00.000-05:00

happy thanksgiving folks! hope you're all enjoying the day off in america, we've all got classes here today...
salzburg/chiemsee pics are now up at http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYllmY8LKALB56NmF%2bR5zv5f%2fK3RWBBzmhudWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
check it out

joy in austria with alissa

2005-11-23T08:35:00.000-05:00

SO I"M PRETTY MUCH ONE OF THE HAPPIEST GIRLS IN GAMING RIGHT NOW!!! today totally kicks it! here's why:
reason number one: woke up at 7 and went freakin SLEDDING with maureen and the central americans who have never been before. LOL!!! there's nothing quite like screaming at the top of your lungs first thing in the morning while the sun peaks over the snow covered mountains :o)
i did almost die though, and my back is definitely gonna be feeling it... we're talking face first in the snow (took a running start on a tube - didn't work so when) hit the powder, sled stops, face stops, legs keep going but i can't quite flip cuz my head's kinda jammed in the snow. yeah, literally saw stars after that one.
reason number two: it is SUCH a beautiful day!!!
reason number three: decided not to go to child development class for a very good reason (if you want me to explain you can ask later)
reason number four: i totally just bought the CUTEST, WARMEST austrian boots ever and some WOOL SOCKS! yup, i gave in, so now i'll have warm feet!
reason number five: mass is in a few minutes and then LUNCH TIME!!!
so basically, life is beautiful!

almost on an island

2005-11-20T11:22:00.000-05:00

well folks, it is officially freezing in gaming, austria. below freezing, actually. woke up friday morning to leave for salzburg to find the entire kartuase covered in snow and more coming down. and it pretty much hasn't stopped. wow. at first i wasn't so keen on the snow coming since it's been cold enough in my opinion but i have changed my mind completely because, wow, can i just say BEAUTIFUL?! all the train-rides this weekend were somehow so much cooler because it was like we were flying through this winter wonderland.
spent friday afternoon in salzburg - pretty cool place! the alps are amazing of course, although our view wasn't the typical postcard because of all the snow that was coming down. they almost looked more like clouds... anyway, we went to the typical salzburg sound of music spots - the church, the abby, the round fountain in front of the palace; now i want to watch the movie again just to see the places that i've been! that evening we went spent at the house of a girl who studies in gaming with us. slightly awkward because she wasn't actually there so we were basically staying with a strange family but they were super nice so i guess it was ok. we went to bed by, are you ready for this? 8 pm!!! i guess getting up early, traveling, and then walking around in the snow all afternoon will tucker you out :o)
saturday we went to chiemsee, where my mom went to boarding school in '64. she actually attended a school in this convent on an island in this huge lake. we weren't able to get to the island itself because of train/ferry schedules (a big disapointment for me) but the area was sooooo beautiful. especially with all the snow, it really had a surreal feel to it. i wish we had more time there... that night we got back to gaming and hitch-hiked our way from the train station to steinmulher for dinner. yup, it's pretty much impossible to walk from the station back to town without getting picked up! i've tried! so yes, i think it's time for me to do homework :o) love and miss you guys!

gaming laundry

2005-11-14T21:12:00.000-05:00

So you know that feeling of totally being completely unmotivated to go outside into the freezing cold darkness just to put a load of laundry into crazy euro washers/dryers that keep shrinking your clothing? (i swear, all my pants will be highwaters by the time i get home) Well, I managed to overcome my unmotivation and did some laundry tonight. Just so you guys all know. No need to worry. The laundry is ALL SET.yeeeeeaaahhh, wow i think i have been doing too much studying tonight.
right. then why do i have more to do? now that is the question. or maybe it's the fumes from cleaning the bathroom. yep, killer room checks were tonight. we're talking shining lights on the bathroom tiles to check for water spots. wow.
so yeah, i have like 3 1/2 weeks of classes left before finals and then returning to the states! how insane is that... i'm totally excited to get home but i know i'm gonna miss it here and i'm gonna miss being able to travel so much. but hey, it's still several weeks away and i've still got several countries lined up to visit.
i have absolutely the biggest knots in that muscle that connects your neck to you shoulder... not a bio major here. anyway, yes that was random, just thought you might like to know. i think i totally need to get to a back fixer once i get to the states. sleeping (or not) on sidewalks, trains, planes, and God knows where else does a number on your back.
weather report: it is sooooooo freezing!!!!!!!!!!!! frost on the mountains today, smells like snow, my nose completely freezes when i go running, you get the picture. florida is gonna be nice.
on another note, i'm signing up for spring classes and i think i'm taking 20 credits???? and working??? alissa, what are you thinking.... whatever, i can always drop classes and i'm actually looking forward to having a job and i'll be in florida so yeah, things will pretty much rock.
one last thing, happy birthday to my little bro zachary! he's 11 today and man i miss him! i actually got to talk to him and ben and mom and dad on the phone a little tonight which was awesome. back in the states i totally took it for granted that i could call your family or friends whenever i wanted! (sorry sampedro, free nights and weekends don't apply to international calls)

put on a mask and dance the night away

2005-11-06T22:21:00.000-05:00

pictures from masquerade dance
http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlmI4XGW6205%2fvuixudUm9vK9FjflRCi1fpWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
SO last night was a freakin AWESOME time! ave put on a masquerade dance for everyone over here in austria and it was abosolutely a complete success. the decorations worked, music came through, sound was good and loud, great turnout, sweet costumes, and a packed dance floor the whole night! soooooo much fun! i was the little mermaid :o) not that i really looked like that at all but i got all dressed up like *something* anyways. plus, i got to use the mask that i bought in SPAIN and then decorated myself! but yeah, i am super happy with how it turned out, everyone totally let loose and had a great time. i highly recommend masquerade dances for future reference.after the dance a few of us went and hung with some FUS'ers and danced til 2 am at their after-party. salsa baby!

you know it

2005-11-04T22:41:00.000-05:00

PICTURES FROM 10 DAY!!!http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlmI4XGW6205%2fgaNjGLyzkTYPbatD57YJqpWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
enjoy, i'm goin to brush my teeth now

around europe in 10 days

2005-11-02T21:01:00.000-05:00

back from 10 day!!! what an amazing trip!!! the short and sweet of it...thursday - me and jacob forgot eurail passes, group decided to leave the next morning instead - partied in gaming that night!
friday - left in the afternoon, took night train to florence - slept on floor of train
saturday - saw florence, cool catherdral, david statue in gallery academia, arrived at rome that night, stayed with servant sisters
sunday - woke up at 5 am, went to papal mass in st. peters sqaure - 2ND ROW!!! explored ancient rome
monday - toured high-speed with maureen, split at lunch, visited JPII's tomb, explored basillica, vatican museum/sistine chaple - WOW
tuesday - went to naples and island of capri with kristin - BEAUTIFUL
wednesday - up at crack of dawn for papal audience - 1ST ROW this time!!! got the papal blessing for me and my family :o) went up dome, spent more time in the basillica, did some shopping, went and caught plane to BARCELONA. spent night in barcelona by myself, yeah slightly scary but what an adventure!!!
thursday - went running downtown barcelona! meghan and laina found my hostel (thank God!!!) we went to the beach, had seafood, went to picasso museum, chilled.
friday - went to cathedral of the sacred family downtown (still being built afte 100 years) very cool, checked out freshfood market (awesome), went to Guadi's park (really sweet architect guy, i loved it!) got effectively lost after sunset, finally made our way back, hung out with james, guy i met on the plane over, went to the pier/dowtown. couldn't sleep in hostel cuz they were full, train station closed until 5 am, so we camped out on the sidewalk in front of the station and played cards till then. yeah, didn't sleep at all that night...
saturday - chilled out in train station waiting for train, decided to go running, ran to national art musuem, got lost, managed to get back in time for train :o) took train to bilbao, where 2 servant sisters picked us up and took us to their convent. a real bed!!!
sunday - spent with the sisters!!!! absolutely amazing group of people, had a WONDERFUL time!!! concluded the day with adoration and,,, a pillow fight?!?!?! fun stuff
monday - went running through northern spain which i've decided is my favorite country area YET, so beautiful!!! went to garabandel, marian shrine, caught bus to airport, flew to london, chilled with a group from denmark in the airport all night (not much sleep here either )
tuesday - took plane, trains, and busses, and finally made it back to GAMING!!!wow, yeah it was pretty sweet and there's so many cool stories to tell but so little time! pics will be up eventually.

2005-10-17T20:59:00.000-04:00

So have you ever climbed a cell phone tower? you know, those big, metal tower things? i did today! went on a run, hiked up book mountain (actually has a book in a metal case at the top for people to write their names in - i sure wrote mine!) and then saw The Cell Phone Tower about 50 yards away. i had heard about other people climbing it so i figured what the heck and climbed alllll the way to the top! wow. good thing i'm not scared of heights :o) the freakiest thing - about half way up it starts to sway a little...
ANYWAY - so the czech republic weekend trip was absolutely amazing!!! this was our ave sponsored trip so we didn't have to pay for everything - always nice. the short and sweet of it (because i do have a midterm to study for) : drove to praug friday, arrived in the evening, found our hotel after several wrong turns, and then split up to explore the night life of praug. what a BEAUTIFUL city!!!! i've gotta say it's on my favorites list FOR SURE! the only city in the area not to be bombed during WWII, most of its old building are still there in all their glory. we (laina, rachel, and I) decided that praug is the perfect place to be with a boyfriend. oh well :o)
we got some food, did some shopping, just enjoyed looking at the city, and met some guys ;o) the first two wanted to take us clubbing later, the next three were actually from michigan and were pretty excited to meet somebody else from their state. it's always nice to meet people from a place you know. it's a little wierd how you automatically feel a connection to them ever though you have never met before.
anyway, the next morning i got up early and went out with mary and jacob to get some breakfast and walk around before our tour led by Mrs. Healy who actually grew up in czech. after the tour we split up again. rachel and i got off the beaten trail but managed not to get lost. a highlight of our detour was finding a rather unique czech consignment shop. we then drove to a small village with some crazy name i can't remember where we spent the night in the parish hall. before going to bed though, the healys took us out for dinner and then we went wine tasting.
the wine cellar owner was amazing! his cellar had at least 3 secret rooms (complete with moving walls!). one of the rooms was made so that when you stand in the middle it sounds like you're talking into a microphone. another entrance was made low on purpose so that everyone who entered had to bow to the statue of the patron saint of wine cellars. this guy was awesome! he really had a passion for what he did and loved sharing it with others as well. i've never tasted so many types of wine. we all slept very well that night :o)
next morning maureen and i went exploring, met some locals (who didn't speak a word of english), found a teeter totter, got scared by a giant german shepard, and got invited for some vodka (at 8:30 am!) at this random old guy's house. no thanks. we made it back in time for mass (the church was completely packed - standing room only) and then had a traditional czech brunch and hit the road. stopped at a czech castle (very beautiful - lots of woodwork) on the way, got some trail mix and yeah, that pretty much brings me to the end of the trip! so now you can check out the pictures!http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlkmqkQr7HJUAUux%2fIYNy1yRQsIpYlKOujBWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d

more pretty pictures!

2005-10-10T17:19:00.000-04:00

yay! more pictures! for more commentary, read my previous posts :o)
munich/oktoberfest http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlnGCyXC%2bPVwes52W%2fTPvs4WIkyXjgzki7BWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
life in gamin http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlnGCyXC%2bPVwevxEUGKYP7jkScyYTlxXS%2bJWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
pilgrimage to mariazell http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlnGCyXC%2bPVwelQso4KHgmF47jmKmEQK5upWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d

heat, munich, oktoberfest, and viena

2005-10-02T11:43:00.000-04:00

REJOICE!!!! FOR THEY HAVE TURNED THE HEAT ON!!!!!!!! yeah!!! so at the katuase (where we all live) they don't turn the heat on until october so i've pretty much been in a constant state of coldness for the last couple weeks but i just sat down at my desk and realized that the heater on the wall was actually giving off heat rather than sitting there like a cold stone. YEAH!!!!! so yeah, right now i'm pretty much procrastinating because i have a lot of homework and haven't done ANY of it yet this weekend because i was in munich and vienna the past couple days.
speaking of which, what a weekend...so friday morning we (me, patty, marissa, anthony, chris, jacob, michael - notice there were actually MORE GUYS THAN GIRLS for once!) drove to munich - about a 4 hour drive i think. we rented a minivan so the whole trip marissa and i were in the back corners with everybody's stuff and sleeping bags. crowded but very comfy for a road trip. the drive was actually pretty fun because we drove through the alps which, oh my gosh, are so amazingly beautiful!!!!!!!! seriously - WOW anyway, there were some austrian cd's in the car so we got to listen to some high-quality german music. no seriously, it was actually alright :o)
once we got to munich we walked all over the city which was very beautiful. Chris had been there before so he served as our tour guide which was kinda cool. he took us to some of the main churches and squares and then we climbed up one of the church's bell towers and were able to see EVERYTHING. all of munich, the alps in the distance, and - oktoberfest of course. before heading to oktoberfest we actually went through a cool park and checked out a beer garden. a beer garden is this intersting concept of tons of picnic tables were people all go and get these huge stines of beer along with a big pretzel or sausage or some other completely unhealthy form of food.
we watched the sunset from this old marble gazebo type thing on top of a hill in the park and then proceeded back to the car, kicking the soccer ball between us. (*soccer ball side-note* ---> so i've decided the soccer ball is like chris's baby; he never goes anywhere without it! all through munich we were kicking in around; down streets, through crowds, pretty intense stuff. it actually turned out to be a good way to meet people because of course the ball gets out of control sometimes so some random person has to kick it back to us. it was great to see these nicely dressed men kicking our ball back. anyway, i seemed to be a ball target and got nailed at least three times, mostly by jacob. end side-note)
then we made our way to oktoberfest. we stopped to get directions from this couple that had obviously been there but they turned out to not be much help because they both pointed opposite ways... anyway, we got there eventually and wow - what a manifestation of human stupidity. i've never seen so many incredibly drunk people acting so disgusting. they had these huge "beer tents" packed with people drinking, smoking (many different things) and doing God knows what else. once we got there we split up because it was impossible to stay together in such a large crowd so i was with marissa and we ended up having a pretty good time despite the uh, atmosphere. we didn't even try to get into the tents, instead we walked around dancing to the music, "talking" of the drunk people, riding the ferris wheel, eating peanuts, looking for hot chocolate, and avoiding drunken kisses. this one group of italian men were especially persistent but we successfully brushed them off. one of them had won this plastic necklace at one of the carnival games and he gave it to me. how charming huh? they tried to teach us this drinking song in italian too but we both forgot it already.
after our group finally rejoined we went back to the van and were thinking about trying to find someplace to sleep but a certain anonymous member of the pack had managed to get completely sick (not on purpose, just to clarify). we decided continual puking wouldn't be good for a car ride so the girls and one guy slept in the van while the rest of the guys slept in a park a ways away from oktoberfest. it was actually surprisingly comfy and i slept great! the only problem with sleeping in a car is the lack of bathrooms.
the next morning we headed to a public bathroom in the underground to get cleaned up best we could before driving to vienna. it was packed with hung over oktoberfest goers. we found the morning after party spot! it's really pretty disgusting, this huge crowd of people who just go to oktoberfest, get drunk, puke and act like a complete moron all night, and then go back the next day and repeat it all, over and over. i consider the whole experience very good motivation to never get drunk like that. (so dad, if you're reading this, you can rest easy )
so anyway, then we drove to vienna which was slightly gross because our anonymous member was still pretty sick, but we made it just in time to get to mass at the cathedral with cardinal schinborn and meet up with the rest of ave. the mass was completely in german so i didn't understand much and there weren't any seats so i had to stand for the whole thing but it was still really beautiful. afterwards we all went out to dinner on ave, which is always nice, and then had some free time walking the streets before heading home. vienna is a great night city! tons of people and stuff going on!
*kinda creepy thing that happened* ---> so kristen, mary clare, and myself were walking back to our main group and as we're walking this older, well dressed man ahead of us turns, looks right at us, says (in really smooth english) "nice to see you again ladies" and walks the other way. WIERD. never seen him before. before leaving, michael managed to completely scare me. i'm walking along and he comes up behind and totally grabs me and starts taking my purse. yeah i pretty much COMPLETELY fell for it and freaked out. gosh. yeah so if you actually read all that, that was my weekend! onto homework or, rather, finding other ways to procrastinate...

and some more

2005-09-29T18:30:00.000-04:00

IRELAND: http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlkCclLZJYlWZIgvq%2ffPhI4%2f2hr%2f%2fdpbVrRWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
LONDON: http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlnSWOyjTseC7apdjJ9hsrnwkvLFmjB5VfJWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d

as promised...

2005-09-28T11:10:00.000-04:00

to view pictures: click "view as guest". to read captions go to "view" once they open up
check out POLAND: http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlnSWOyjTseC7b5avKktxfqFuNSol3GHRnxWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
and VIENNA: http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlnSWOyjTseC7SYD1omGvQ3zH4GhNy70fu5WGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
and the CONCENTRATION CAMPS: http://pictures.aol.com/ap/viewShare.do?shareInfo=qehO4z9cYlnSWOyjTseC7TYG8Lg1oWLJ7xKqtENma6dWGd%2bBXiXp6w%3d%3d
not all the pictures are the best but it gives you a pretty good idea... more to come!

poland - amazing with a large helping of heavy

2005-09-26T13:00:00.000-04:00

i just have to say, POLAND WAS SO AMAZING!!!!! wow. talk about a sweet trip! i can honestly say that this past weekend was one of the most fulfilling trips of my life! we traveled by bus straight through thursday night for about 12 hours. when we arrived in krackow we hit the streets and did some hard core touring before heading to the divine mercy shrine where we saw the original divine mercy painting, had time for prayerand walking around the convent/grounds, and celebrated mass in their huge church. it was such a beautiful and holy place. absolutely beautiful .
that night we spent in a slightly sketchy youth hostel downtown. we were all out of toilet paper by late that night... we went out and got some ice cream and we just chillin when this huge group of jewish people come by all celebrating a bar mitzah or something. they didn't know much english but a couple of the guys knew "have a nice day" and so they said that to every one of us.
next morning we went to the birthplace of JPII - sweet - and then spent several hours in the concentration camps.
concentration camps. wow. talk about intense. i don't know if you guys know this but my grandpa had to flee Germany as a jewish child. it gave a very real perspective to the whole thing.
there was such a heaviness everywhere. it's so hard to put into words the incredible evil... it was, yeah, really hard. i don't think i spoke a single word the entire time.
instead of me trying to explain this, i will have to let the pictures i took speak for themselves. (which should be up soon)
after the concentration camps we were able to celebrate mass at a church nearby which was absolutely wonderful. such a release after the camps. i got to do the readings so it was extra cool for me. a group of consecrated made dinner for us which was so good after walking around all day and then we saw an exhibit done by an artist who survived 5 years in the camps. again, intense. ok, i'm not done telling everything but i *have* to go watch a movie. later!

colds, football, and FOPs

2005-09-16T14:16:00.000-04:00

*sniffle* well guys, i seem to be kinda sick over here. there's been something going around and i was hoping not to get it but i think i was just one of the last. bummer. meanwhile, lots of stuff has been goin on over here!
I'm a football player now!!! i decided to join an intermural team and am doing my very best to figure everything out. i know football is an american thing but it is quite foreign to me! we played our first game without a coach - lost 20 to 0. ouch. literally. my job was blocking. but things are improving because we now have a coach - named michael - who actually knows what he is doing and should help us out. we've had one practice and he had me playing center. yeah, never really snapped a ball before... anyways it's a pretty non-intense thing and is actually turning out to be pretty fun.
last night i went to FOP - festival of praise- hosted by fransiscan. *very* awesome! it was great to see how everyone worked together to create a unique experience. the whole charismatic thing of course sparked some interesting discussion as well. people have such varying opinions about that type of thing.
so i went to bed last night feeling like i was getting sick but felt better this morning so got a bunch of people together and went off to the town of Lunz. actually chris and i were the onlyones ready for the early bus and so we went and explored for a couple hours and the others met us there. it's this quaint little town with a BEAUTIFUL lake surrounded by mountains. wow. breathtaking.
anyways, yeah it was great but then i started to feel pretty rotten and yeah here i am now. there's a big flea market tomorrow i'm hoping to make it too, and on sunday gaming is having a festival. poland next weekend...

plan? what plan?

2005-09-10T12:49:00.000-04:00

the beauty of overturned plans
what a day... and it's not over yet! so today was *supposed* to consist of homework and then hiking/camping on top of a mountain for the night. yeah not so much. instead, it consisted of: attempting to do homework, playing soccer with a little boy in the courtyard instead, drinking too much coffee, rain - canceling the hiking trip, trying to do more homework but only succeeding in reading a few pages and then going crazy, a 2 1/2 hour solo bike ride in the rain as a remedy to my craziness which included exploring a new town, semi getting lost, watching some austrians playing soccer, and running over several orange slugs, then actually getting some homework done, hot chocolate with meghan, and now off to watch a movie on patty's new laptop! haven't seen a movie in at least a month...

2005-09-09T18:49:00.000-04:00

ever heard of Mariazell? well neither had i, but yesterday we went on pilgrimage there. 15 mile walk!!! from about 745 am until 3ish in the afternoon! that's a lot of walking. we went through this *amazing* nature trail, through mountains and valley, along roads, up hills, down hills, across bridges, enter giant trees; it gave me a taste of what it would be like to be in a walking culture. i was reminded of the medieval pilgrimages, like the canterbury tales. we were walking but it was more than that. we got to know eachother, said the rosary, told stories, sang songs, and eventually made our ways to mariazell.
anyways, it's one of the most major marian shrines in central europe and over 2 million people go there every year. the church itself was absolutely amazing, as are most churches over here. we were very privileged to be able to attend a byzantine divine litergy which was absolutely amazing. they're the greek orthodox branch of the catholic church; a little different style but still united under the authority of the pope. i really liked it because the mass had the awesome reverence and beauty of the latin mass but it was in understandable english and the prayers were just beautiful. you should all go to one if you ever get a chance. longer than regular mass but so beautiful!
anyway, we rode back, no more walking, and then had dinner and did some salsa dancing! move those hips baby...

the little things in life

2005-09-06T11:15:00.000-04:00

yesterday i was able to blow dry my hair thanks to the support of meghan's blowdryer for the first time in over three weeks. JOY!!!!

onto the city

2005-09-03T21:56:00.000-04:00

ah vienna! today we walked allllllllllll over vienna! such a beautiful city and there's so much we didn't get to see! we're gonna go back for an opera in the opera house at some point this semester which i'm totally looking forward to after just seeing the building. never been an opera fan but this could totally be cool.
funnest part of the day: playing on the playground! ok austrians officially have way cooler playgrounds than american's, hands down. we found this sweet one in the middle of vienna surrounded by all these amazing old famous building and statues and such so of course we had to play on it.
other cool things about vienna: 1. there's an amazing church like every block it seems! i've never seen anything like these places. 2. statues just kinda popped up everywhere a few hundred years ago. very cool. 3. they have an abundance of street performers as well! we watched this breakdance type group during lunch. 4. school bought dinner for us! (note: wine should not be consumed on a completely empty stomach)
ahhhh ok i am very tired so i'm going to bed now!

AUSTRIA!!!

2005-08-30T20:53:00.000-04:00

Well, after spending a rather freezing night "sleeping" in a train station in salsburg, i have officially started classes in gaming, austria! it is absolutely amazing here!!! i wish you all could come and visit! the campus is in this restored monastary which is over 700 years old. the church is absolutely beautiful and the whole place is stuffed with history. since ave is such a small group, we got to go on a special tour and actually went up into the rafters of the church and all of the side chapels that the monks used. last night a group of us got together and did night prayers in one of them - very cool/awe-inspiring. the rooms are amazingly nice. i swear, ave spoils it's students as far as housing goes. not your typical dorm room at all. my bed is right by a window looking out onto one of the courtyards next to the church. gaming itself is a very small town in the middle of a valley of the foothills of the mountains. it takes your breath away, literally. i went running this morning and this hills are a bit of a challenge :o) patty (who is a girl for the information of maria) has a fire escape out her room so last night me, her, and meghan all hung out with hot chocolate looking up at the stars. we all have different roommates but i'm sure we'll all hang out a lot.
some numbers: there's about 20 ave students, 3 of which are guys. what a ratio. there's a whole bunch (yeah that's not a number, sorry) of ITI students which is a graduate program - they have more girls as well but it's much more even. then there's about 160-170 stubenville people which is more even as well. maybe it's just because we don't know eachother but some of the ITI seem slightly, eh, distant. i feel like a little freshman all over again! they've kinda got the whole - yeah, we're graduate students, we've been here, this is our turf, you really think you can handle our classes? but some of them are cool. i met a guy named rowl (sp?) from romania who was cool. what a crazy name though... the stubies - there's a lot of them so i'm sure some have got to be pretty cool, right? right now it's in the whole meeting everyone and trying to remember names stage. i've figured out it takes a little while for people to let who they really are show through. right now everyone's still in the "i need to make a good first impression" stage i think. time to get past that.
my classes: in case you're interested...
logic (yeah nccs!)
ethics (had my first class today - we're basing the class off aristotle and yeah it pretty much makes my brain hurt)
philosophical introduction to economics (an everyday for two weeks class i'll be doing in october - sounds kind of intense but really interesting)
child development and character formation
mysterium salutis: catechism of the catholic church (the teacher for this class was actually an editor of the catechism! kind of excited about this one...)
sacred doctrine (good old core requirement)
yep, that's bout it! no classes on friday, so i will definitely be doing a lot of travel. this weekend we're going on a day trip to vienna!
well it's off to lunch, so drop me a comment and let me know how things are back in america!
love you all!

what it means to really cover ground

2005-08-26T09:20:00.000-04:00

made it to london!!! yesterday involved some hardcore travel. it's really amazing how you can be in such a completely different location in such a relatively short amount of time!
we left galway by bus in the morning, spent a few hours in dublin again (i got to call my mom and dad! yay!) then took a bus to the airport, then took a plane to london, then took a train to the subway, then took that through a bunch of stations and just happened to catch the LAST train of the night (early morning) to our station. that was totally god! it was still a kinda lengthy walk from the station with all of our stuff to our next hostel, especially since we kinda went the wrong way first, but we finally made it around 1:30 am. then patty was pushing the wrong doorbell so we stood at the door for like 5 minutes before anybody even knew we were there. but we eventually made it to the reception desk and lugged our stuff up 2 flights of stairs before crashing into our beds. there were already a couple other people in our room so we were super quiet. hope they didn't mind the late arrival... i think one of them was a guy but i couldn't really tell because everyone was in bed and they were gone when we woke up this morning. that's kind of a different concept ya think? sleeping in the same room with these random people? whatever, i'm used to it, and patty and i are doin the whole smart travel buddy thing :o) anyways, we don't have any food and i haven't eaten for what seems like ages so we're gonna find some grub and then explore london. cheers

drinks with the mayor of liscannor

2005-08-24T09:15:00.000-04:00

new location: galway! still in ireland, just arrived in the city of galway this morning off the aran islands where we spent two nights. we've been doing a lot of biking and hiking and such, taking lots of great pictures and meeting tons of really interesting people.
interesting and *wonderful* people that is. we ended up catching a ride to the ferries for the aran islands from a random couple we met at a hostel. they were on their way to go surfing! in slightly chilly weather! there is a different attitude towards hitch-hiking over here, that's for sure!
we got stranded in this little town called liscannor. it was really just bad planning on our part because we wanted to see the cliffs of mohr and ended up booking a hostel that was only like 15 minutes away but had terrible bus and taxi service so nobody could get us where we needed to be in time to see the cliffs and still make our ferry to the islands the next morning. we still went exploring down the beach and through an old church and had a good time, but man, i never want to call so many irish taxi services in a row again.
we decided to go out again that night and ended up meeting paul, who introduced us to their mayor, mickey, who then proceeded to take us to this tiny old school pub where the bar tender refuses to serve pints to women. this was one of the first cultural difference things that really hit me. i'm not sure if we handled it in the best way, but we were with the mayor so it couldn't have been too bad, right? we walk in and there are only men. of course they all notice us. hmm, awkward. so i'm just like "hi everyone!", and the mayor bought us drinks and we made small talk with them all. it was an interesting experience :o) i've never been in a town where the mayor is an old man who goes pub-hopping with the locals every night...
pictures - when i get settled into austria i'll be putting all the ireland pictures up! i can't wait! there are some amazing places that we have seen!one of the coolest things about ireland - the lack of fences, ropes, and railings. you can climb up the walls of an old castle, through an old abby, hang your head over the edge of a cliff, touch everything, pretty much whatever you want. america suddenly seems very aware about "preserving" things. just because europe has so much more history, does that make things seem more dispensible? anyway, off the explore galway!

across the pond!

2005-08-17T06:30:00.000-04:00

COMING TO YOU LIVE FROM DUBLIN (it's actually 8:30 pm here),,, hey guys! i'm here! everything is very cool, i'm havin a blast with patti. the flight transfer in london was OK even though i almost missed my flight. heathrow was a mess... but i met this really cool guy who helped me out and talked to security and got me through extra fast and was totally awesome. i don't even know his name but he was super helpful and i had fun talking with him waiting for the bus. i've done sooo much in dublin already, i can't believe i've only been here since yesterday afternoon. yesterday i went to the national gallery with patti, got some food and chilled at the hostel where this cool artist guy did card tricks for us. then i crashed - hard - because i pretty much pulled an all-nighter with the travel thing. that's what they call jet lag i guess. today we walked alllll over dublin. seriously. alllll over. like about 11 hours of exploring. dang. anyway, dublin is a very cool city! some of the cooler things we saw: bible manuscripts from 200 AD written on papyrus, cool city parks, and some mummies in the krypt of an old church. we actually went down this hatch outside the church and saw these people in coffins, hundreds of years old. patti and i touched this one guy's hand. it's good luck and means you're gonna get married in general, downtown dublin was really sweet. lots of market type places with so many different types of people and lots of musicians playing various instruments every other block or so. there was this one guy who did this awesome puppet show. i'm at an internet cafe right now and patti and i are gonna head out and find some music and get something good to drink and have some more fun tomorrow morning we're getting up and catching a bus to limerick so see some of the more scenic sides of ireland. love you!

it'll grow

2005-08-13T03:50:00.000-04:00

well even though it's still kinda friday night, it's techinically saturday so that means there is 2 days until i leave for ireland/austria. sorry if you guys are getting sick of the count down, i'm just kind of focused on it i guess :o) anyway, yeah i still need to pack and have a handful of random things to wrap up before i leave. that's what this weekend's for! that and some good family time. i've been working a lot this week so it'll be nice to actually have dinner with my family (!) before i leave for 5 months.
tonight was my last night at gilbert and blakes, thursday was my last day at the mac, every time i see someone i say goodbye, yeah, i'd say the summer is coming to a close. i'm so ready! i mean summer is awesome but now it's over and on to the next thing ya know? i'm not a huge fan of the whole transitional period. jumping in and getting on with things is more my style i think. anyway, this summer was good though. got to hang out with some very cool people and had some fun times :o) i love you guys!
after work, i went and chilled at andy's house and went through a whole round of goodbyes - sophie, katie, mike, other mike, dj, matt, andy - see you christmas! (cept andy, who has seen the light and will also be going to school in florida - we are soo hanging out spring semester dude!) anyway, then i came home and there was a party goin on in my backyard (bonfire and everything) so i got to say more goodbyes!
interesting experience: went on the shortest "date" of my life - consisted of a walk to my car, a conversation, and a good hug. i'd say it went pretty well...
tragedy has struck - we're out of ice cream.
why does everyone tell me to stay out of trouble in europe? i mean i know i'm a redhead but come on how much harm can i do?
most interesting response to me going to austria: from corey - "isn't that gonna mess up your plans for getting married?" - uh, like i'm ready to do that this semester... i need at *least* six months to make a decision like that, five would be cutting it kinda close.
most candid response to the new haircut - tie between "oh well, it'll grow" "interesting" and "wierd". a lot of people still say they like it though and honestly i don't really care about it so it's *all good*. it's really nice to not care about some stuff, ya know?
anyways - this is a long post and i'm hungry for some life cereal. so leave me a sweet one!

clam chowder queen

2005-08-08T02:02:00.000-04:00

so in about 1 hour i will have 7 days before i leave the country til christmas! crazy. this afternoon i got organized and wrote down everything i need to get done before i leave and worked on my ireland itinerary. yeah i'm thinking, the ireland and london traveling before classes start is gonna be a BLAST. the more i look at travel info the more excited i get! there's beautiful scenery, live music, dancing, and bike trails everywhere, what else could i need? i can hardly believe that i'm actually going. it doesn't really seem real - at all. i already feel like i'm going through a transitional time in my life. Throw in going to a different country and experiencing life in a completely different way, wow.
ok i'm going through my music on my laptop and i totally have a ton of random, unknown music. i know people burned cd's on it a lot at amu, it's just kinda funny that i ended up with like 11 hours of unorganized songs. ever heard of "bone thugs n harmony"???
I AM THE CLAM CHOWDER QUEEN. well, that's all i sold at work today anyways...

the passport is ready

2005-08-03T14:18:00.000-04:00

HOLA! and so the countdown begins, 12 freakin days until i'm outa the country!!! OMG wow. breath. ok. yeah so i'm totally excited and nervous. it's gonna be amazing so in the next 12 days, i'll be working for 10 of them, my last shot at making any mula, gotta pack and figure out what to mail, plus spending as much time with my friends and family as possible. saw sophie and theresa last night so that was cool. actually i saw sophie late monday... i babysat for these 4 crazy girls who refused to go to bed and afterwards decided to stop at the adoration chapel at IHM and surprise!! sophie was there!! hadn't seen her all summer. anyway, had a good time sunday with erin, josh, matt, jeremy, and dj. prob the last time i'll see matt before christmas. i don't think jeremy liked my hair cut much. oh well, he'll find some other girl's hair to obsess over with no problem erin and i chilled for a while after the guys left and that was awesome. it's good to just talk about stuff and erin is definitely one of those few people that you can be real with. yesterday i saw senator valde garcia at the fair (he's the one i interned for) and said hi to him and gave the 20 second alissa's life update. he's awesome. if i still go into politics i think i would want to be a senator, but never be on office staff, hehe had enough of that in my internship. well this post is fairly scattered. sorry, guess that's what happens when i try to think first thing in the morning. hey, hopefully i'll get to party with some of you tonight after spyn! i'm working lunch and G+B's today and then helpin with a big archery group thats practicing at my house for the state shoot. my bro daniel is totally into the archery and i love it! give's the 13 year old something constructive to do :o) he hasn't quite touched my high score yet though... alright, time to work out before work. holla back!

...

2005-07-28T02:54:00.000-04:00

man. why do i think so much? lately everything has been running through my head at about a million thoughts a minute. ok thats a slight hyperbole, but you get the idea. and the thing is, it's like i try and think about everything at once. multiple trains of thought, crashing. like yesterday, i was saying a rosary in the adoration chapel, and i was thinking about my grandpa, my friends, what i ate for breakfast, and when i was gonna work out next. focus. right. so here i am, writing, because some of this stuff just has to spill and sometimes things make more sense when it's written out.

it sounds cliche, but when somebody dies it really makes you think about your own life. i decided that i am not satisfied with who i am, not nearly, not in any area. God has so much to do in me, but am i letting him? i feel like i've got things together and then at the same time feel so frustrated with everything. this summer has been such a wierd experience for me. it has been so great to be home, with my friends and family, and it's shown me just how much i love everyone. i know i was supposed to be here but at the same time have felt really unsettled. it feels like things are changing and i don't have a whole lot of control over the process. i think i'm changing, but i can't quite put my finger on how. part of it is that i feel pretty unattached, to anything. i mean, i'm "home" but i'm not even in my own bedroom anymore, i'm going to austria real soon, but who knows what i'm actually gonna do over there, i'm going to amu now but who knows beyond that, i'm working, but my schedule is different every week, jobs are different every few months, i'm going to church but even that is wierd because i go wherever/whenever depending on work, i've got all my friends here and i've got all my friends at amu, but they're changing too and all of our lives aren't going to be on the same path forever. and how can i expect to really know them when i can't seem to fully know myself? i feel like i should have a more definite direction in my life but i also feel like God just wants me to trust him and take it step by step. wait and see. how long? but the thing is, it's not just "wait and see". it's taking action, stepping out in faith, living life, making decisions, not just sitting there waiting for a blue print which will never arrive. it's like an active waiting, doing things but but always ready for the next signal to do something else. so yeah, that's a stretch for me! some of my friends made committments to the work of christ community earlier this year. i respect that so much and at the same time do not think that i am in a position to make that same commitment at all, at least not now. some of them have spent the whole summer in service and are going to be living in household this next year. i hear that am just like - wow, i don't know if i could do that. i don't know what it is, but it's like i've developed this aversion to rules while at the same time realizing how absolutely vital structure is. (on a side note - do you realize that it is impossible to get a away from stucture? structure is completely inescapable. if you try and leave structure and decided to just do your own thing, you have actually created a new structure.) but yeah, rules. man. the best advice that i've heard this summer has been from the people who have told me to keep making time for God. one friend encouraged me to spend time in adoration whenever i can; my parents have really been encouraging me to go to mass with them as much as possible. God is so good and his grace is so abundant in both places! i've got to make time for it though. i've becoming pretty obsessed with being healthy and working out (don't know if any of you picked up on that ) and i'm still not satisfied and i think i'm finally coming to a point where i'm not satisfied with myself spiritually either. kinda pathetic how focused i can be on the physical and so comparatively apathetic about the spiritual. but yeah, *i am not satisfied with who i am*!

well this is definitely the longest and most serious post i have *ever* written. i think i'll stop now. yeah. that felt good.

there's always a better way, there's always a bridge that needs crossing, there's always the straight and the narrow, the wide and the shallow, but i know that you're guiding me, and the best is yet to come, you've given me hope for tomorrow, and i know someday
i'll wake up to find, your glory divine, and i will finally bow at your feet, i will lift up your name, in honor and praise, when i cross over jordan, i know that i'll be running home to you

lightness sweetness

2005-07-18T02:36:00.000-04:00

ok, i'm almost completely packed. you guys would be proud, EVERYTHING is in a duffel bag and backpack. i've never packed so light in my life! i just sent out my laptop to get a new screen (completely covered by warranty!!!) and my phone will soon be de-activated :tear: ah! i can feel the disconnection already! (international cell rates are at least 1.50 a minute!!! how insane is that?!?!) anyway, just wrapping up a few final details and then tomorrow i'm going to mass and lunch with my family and then it's off to infinity and beyond!
now what you've all been waiting for - how to keep in touch with me while i'm in austria!!! i'm gonna try and keep this thing updated and put my pictures online so you can all leave me comments AND you can email me AND you can write me letters!
email = alissa.schafer@avemaria.edu
snail mail = Alissa Schafer
Ave Maria University
Kartause 1
A-3292 Gaming
Austria, EUROPE
alright, i'm out! I'LL MISS YOU GUYS!

we go to ride

2005-07-13T20:03:00.000-04:00

yeah!!! i love roller coasters!!! so yesterday theresa and i went to cedar point with brian, mike, brendan, david, and rob. we got there pretty early and stayed until 10 so by the time i crawled into bed around 3 am i was sufficiently tired and sunburned (the last time i was sunburned... ah, the memories. i miss florida. anyway...) you know how when you've been riding rides all day and you finally lay down and close your eyes but you still feel like you're on them? yeah. wierd how your body does that. anyway, the day was a blast cept for when we waited in line for at least an hour for top thrill dragster and then it malfunctioned in front of our very eyes (didn't make it over the top ) we then had to wait for them to reset it which takes a while for a ride like that and had finally made it to the last part of the line when a thunder storm blew in. shut down. so we waited it out but then they had mechanical problems *again* so we finally just left and dave and i rode magnum front row instead (which was SWEET - the magnum doesn't get enough credit guys; that is one awesome ride. dave couldn't even keep his arms up the whole time ). the dragster was goin by the time we left but it wouldn't have been worth it to stay in line even longer. i hate waiting. besides, flash back to senior year, i've already experienced the dragster front row. 0 to 120 baby. millenium force is still on the top of my favorites list. you can't beat that first drop. i've decided you shouldn't ever hold on though, it makes it so much better. brian and brendan got me to go on the power tower on the shooting down side and holy cow i was flippin out on the way up. and on the way down... i don't think i've ever screamed so loud in my life. then we decided to do it again, this time - no hands. that is definitely the scariest ride there. sweet. ok what the heck, my pop-up blocker is only working like every other pop-up. !!!! whatever. so today i had to wake up and work which actually wasn't half bad and then went to the mac and then made dinner and now i'm gonna chill with my bro daniel and watch the pacifier. maybe go to bed early too... peace
THANKS TO BRIAN FOR BEING THE BEST LIP GLOSS HOLDER EVER!

i just take it in case of emergencies

2005-07-08T20:14:00.000-04:00

if you ever need it rain, call me and tell me to go on a bike ride with my cell phone. seriously. so i leave for a bike ride and it's sunny, like i'm gonna get tan sunny. but no. it starts to rain. luckily my phone didn't get ruined *again* but i sure got soaked. riding in the rain is actually fun if you're not worried about drowning your phone.
so yeah, work was pretty slow tonight but i was there for a while anyways and i open tomorrow morning and i should really go to bed because i should really be tired now but i'm really not. so i'm writing this and listening to the used, which is, btw, a great cd if you're in the mood for that type of stuff. my "music mood" changes like every day. just had some ice cream, totally should not have done that. gotta eat healthy. gosh. i think eating healthy is hardest when i get home from work cuz i dont eat a real dinner and just grab what i can. hmm. dude, i'm leaving for ireland in a little more than a month. i can't wait. man. i just feel so stir crazy right now. like majorly unsettled. only one solution: time to work out. that's rediculous. oh well, can always take a nap tomorrow. shoot dog, bring it on.

sun dried redheads

2005-06-27T22:23:00.000-04:00

i hope my bro never needs to use his bike again, because i think i'm riding it into the ground. it's just a good old Huffy, not really meant for a lot of mileage, and i think i'm putting some decent wear and tear on it. it didn't use to make so much noise... time to oil it up i guess. but anyway... so i accidently went on a 2 + hr. bike ride today. yeah i kinda got turned around on some unfamiliar streets and ended up doin this huge detour to get back home. it was really hot out too and being the smart girl i am i had zero water with me. usually i have a couple bucks on me to get a drink at a gas station or something but, well, i spent that a few rides ago and replaced the $$. so thank god for random nice people!!! i saw this lady watering her garden and rode up to her and she kindly let me drink some water :o) i must of been lookin pretty rough by that time because she seemed really concerned and offered to get me some h2o to take with me. moral of the story: buy a water holder for the bike.
new use for peanut butter: mix it into oatmeal!!! yum

into the storm

2005-06-12T00:45:00.000-04:00

and down came the rain... noooooo... so i was going for a bike ride today and rode directly into a thunderstorm. it was totally dry out when i started, i swear! anyway it was actually kinda freaky because it was raining so hard i could hardly see and neither could the cars on the road (bad news for the bike lane...) and there was thunder and lightning and everything! crazy michigan weather, i tell ya. so i got completely drenched which didn't really bug me until i got home and looked at my cell phone which i had taken with me like i always do on a long ride. uh oh. bad news. it was soaked too and now refuses to turn on. i feel cut off from the world...
philosophical thought of the day: (this one's deep, are ya ready?) i love happy people

What's a bike ride without a break-in?

2005-06-09T19:54:00.000-04:00

ANOTHER EXCITING DAY IN THE LIFE OF ALISSA THE AMAZING RED-HEAD
so i rode my bike to the YMCA today, had a good old workout and rode back to my house, no big deal right? WRONG i try and open the door to my house and am faced with the sad but true truth, i, alissa the red-head, have been locked out of the house by my own family for the second time since i've been home (about a month). man. and of course, the rest of my family is downtown at mass and then shopping so they won't be home for another hour or so. man. so what do i do? well, being a red-head, i do the only logical thing, break in. how, you ask? right, like i'm gonna tell you how to break into my house...
philosophical thought of the day: lock what you may, a red-head cannot be stopped