Corn Maze

My friend, Rachel, and I went to a corn maze tonight at Zarpentine Farms. The theme was Clue, and we had to find suspects in each of the rooms. Once we found someone, they would sign off a room or a person on our card. Eventually, there would only be one of each left, and that was the room and the person. There was one person wandering around who knew the weapon, but we never found him! All we knew was Mrs. White in the Lounge.

The picture above is a picture of the maze we were given at the beginning. We were able to easily track where we were and where we wanted to go. There were even secret passages from corner to corner like in the board game!

It was really muddy and wet - our shoes were caked by the end! However, we had a good time together, experiencing a fun fall activity. I should also note: the only time we were really lost was driving to the maze (Rachel) and on the way home (Laura) - quite ironic!

Wish List

Christmas is coming! I have sent out my Birthday/Christmas Wish List. You know how much I love lists, so I enjoyed creating my Wish List. Last year, we had a little family contest with our Christmas lists of gift ideas. We included pictures and links to where people could find the items we wanted. My sister created a whole website to show what she is hoping to find under the tree. She can continue to update it, and we can refer to it other times of the year when we want to get her a gift. My dad even took the time last year to create a list, which was very helpful as he is usually harder to shop for!

I'm excited for this time of year and finding just the right gift for my family and friends!

Pumpkin Carving

Jayce and Audrey came over tonight to carve pumpkins! We hadn't hung out in 3 weeks, so it was great to spend time together again. We had a fun time using some fancy tools to gut our pumpkins and then carve our designs into them. (Mine's an owl, if you can't tell!) We baked the pumpkin seeds and snacked on them throughout the night.

Someone was in charge of bringing candles, but was confused and didn't end up picking them up, so we made a quick trip to Family Dollar. We found our candles, then Jayce decided he was hungry, so he headed over to Tim Hortons. He wanted to walk over, so handed me the keys to his car to meet him over there. Eventually, the candles ended up on the hood of Jayce's car while Audrey and I were waiting in the parking lot for Jayce to get some food. We decided to move to a different parking spot behind Tim Hortons. Totally forgetting about the candles on the hood, we drove to another parking spot. Jayce found us right away, and we started heading back to Roberts. All of a sudden, a receipt was flying in my face as I was driving - shoot! the candles! Jayce got out to search for them and found them right away next to the back tire. Yes - they had been run over! We were still able to use the candles to light up our pumpkins, and they looked great!

Audrey's birthday is on Saturday, so we also used this time to celebrate! Jayce came early and helped me make a cake for her. It was a fun night with good friends, and now I have some great looking pumpkins greeting everyone who walks by my townhouse door!

Laundry Day

If you know me, you know how much I like my schedule! It worked out this semester for Wednesdays to be Laundry Day. Every Wednesday after work I drag my dirty clothes across the parking lot to the laundry room. There is usually no one else doing laundry in there, so I am able to put both a light and a dark load in at the same time. I head back to my townhouse to work on homework and whatnot and come back about an hour later to move my clothes into the dryer. Another hour later I go back to gather my clean and dry items - I love fresh, clean laundry! Then I take the time to fold and put my clothes away.

Gotta love Wednesdays!

Running on Low

I feel like I've been running on low lately - almost to empty, but just hanging on! I've been traveling every weekend, which is exhausting. Papers, projects, and midterms are piling up. I registered for next semester's classes, which means change is coming. I've had a lot on my mind, so haven't been able to fall asleep easily. I've been trying to make time for friends and other activities, but have had to say no lately. I just feel drained. Prayerfully, I can get some good sleep, work on my school work a little at a time, and find time to relax with friends so I can feel filled up again soon!

Plans for the Final Semester

I registered for classes this morning - for my final semester of classes! I got into everything that I wanted, and I am pretty pleased with me schedule. I have a business class every morning at either 9:00 or 9:25. Then I have my internship from 12-5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have a night class on Wednesdays, and my Senior Seminar class is on Monday afternoons. This class ended up kind of fun because my roommate and I are in it together, and we both had First Year Seminar together freshman year.

I'll have to talk to my supervisors to figure out my work schedule among my classes and internship, then I can really get a sense for what my life will be like come January. May 7th will be here before you know it!

Family Weekend

I spent the weekend with my family visiting Julie in Pittsburgh. She is a sophomore at Waynesburgh University, about an hour south of Pittsburgh. My grandparents joined us as well. We arrived Friday afternoon, got a campus tour, and ate at a local BBQ place. Amy and I spent the night in the dorm with Julie, and the next morning we headed out to explore Pittsburgh! We went to the history and sports museum, then we headed to The Strip for lunch. We also wandered around a public market, getting lots of samples! Then we tried walking to a park by the rivers, but it was blocked off. We made it to the Fort Pitt Museum just as it was closing, so we looked around there for a bit. We oredered pizza on the way back to campus, then played a game. We went to Julie's church in the morning and had lunch in the dining hall. It's always fun to see where people live and get a taste for how they spend their time. It was fun to be all together for the weekend!

A Day with Mom

My mom took the day off work so we could spend some time together today. We went out for lunch then ran a bunch of errands. We started shopping for some Christmas presents too! This evening we spent time making sugar cookies. Now, we make sugar cookies for all occasions around here - Christmas, 4th of July, Valentine's Day, Summertime, and most recently, Fall. We'll be taking some of these fun cookies down to Pittsburgh this weekend as we spend time with Julie!

Travels to PA

Both of my sisters chose to attend schools in Pennsylvania - in opposite corners of the state. I recently traveled to Philadelphia to spend time with Amy, and this weekend I'm heading to Pittsburgh to visit Julie.

I'm going home tonight since all of my classes are canceled tomorrow, and I am able to miss my one class on Friday. My mom is taking off work tomorrow so we can spend the day together. Then my parents and I will meet up with my grandparents and make the trip to Pittsburgh on Friday. We do not have definite plans once we are down there, but we have lots of ideas!

Our family has not been all together since the end of July, so I'm looking forward to the weekend with them.

Running with the School Buses

I was feeling ambitious this morning, so I went for a run before class. I got up at 7am and headed outside. It was freezing cold! I was shivering as I walked to where I begin my runs. I started running and tears began streaming down my face as the cold wind hit me. I kept running as my legs turned numb.

For my 4 mile run, I run down the road to the elementary school then back up the next road. As I was running about 15 school buses passed me, blowing their smelly fumes in my face. They were picking kids up for school. I ran past the school and started up the next road, and what do I see coming toward me? Those same 15 buses, now with kids, heading to the school I just came from! It was not pleasant as they blew by me again.

By this time my legs are red and tears are still streaming down my face. I had a good run, but not sure I'll make 7am Tuesday runs a regular routine!

Shadow Experience

Today I shadowed a woman named Shaunta - which means I met my goal of shadowing 3 people! Shaunta works for Volunteers of America in Rochester (and does work in the Binghamton area as well!). Her title is Communications and Special Events Manager. I was interested in spending time with her as she is involved with fundraising and has a background in grant writing.

I spent 2 hours with Shaunta, talking about the 5 main fundraising events and campaigns she helps with. The yearly golf tournament brings in about $80,000, and another event brings in around $65,000. Over 20,000 people donate to VOA, and Shaunta builds relationships in the community to make sure the donations continue. Shaunta shared that is a key to success in fundraising - building relationships with donors.

We also chatted about grant writing a little bit, as well as a job opportunity! Shaunta explained that they were looking to add a volunteer coordinator to recuirt and maintain the volunteers they work with. I told her I wasn't graduating until May, but gave her my resume. I'm hoping the connections I am making this semester will help when it comes time to secure a job. I am learning a lot as I shadow people, and I will continue to network and see where I might best fit after graduation.

Biking to Canada

My friend, Danielle, and I rode our bikes to Canada today!! I drove to Buffalo with my bike to meet her, and we headed out on our adventure - passports in hand! We rode through Buffalo, on our way to the Peace Bridge, with a map of a route we wanted to ride in Canada.

After about 35 minutes, we came to this sign - we were almost there! We continued on our way and came to an area that looked like customs. We pushed the button and waited to be let into the room and gave the lady our passports. She asks, "Did you acquire anything while you were in Canada?" We look at each other and responded, "Well, we haven't been there yet!" She directed us where to go, and we were on our way. We crossed over the Peace Bridge and followed signs for pedestrians and bikers, which lead us to Lane One of Canadian customs. We biked up to the guy's booth and asked if we were in the right spot - he said no, we had to go into the lane near him with traffic. We proceeded to get behind about 3 cars, then peddled our way up to the window. The guy takes our passports and asks us all sorts of questions. He kind of helped explain where we should go to start our mapped bike route, and we were on our way again. (After our third attempt at getting into Canada, we made it!)

Now, the loop we had planned out was 37 miles - we were feeling ambitious! We were going along looking for College Road to turn onto, when we saw Thompson Ave. We decided to pull out the map to see how far we had to go - we had hardly made a dent! We had a long way to go, so we decided to create our own shorter loop so we could be back before dark.

We eventually followed the sign that said, "USA" with an arrow. We crossed back over the Peace Bridge and headed back to the first place we tried to show our passports. We got our passports out again, and the guy asked, "Where did you come from?" Of course we responded, "Canada!", but he wanted more specifics. He eventually let us back into the US, and we were on our way again. We stopped at Wegmans for subs for dinner, and it was so nice to get off that bike seat! We made it back to Danielle's school, with 5 hours and 30 or so miles of biking behind us! What a day we had - blue skies, nice and sunny, perfect temperature! It was great to spend time chatting and catching up with Danielle, and I'm glad that I can now say I have biked to Canada!

A Lifetime of Blessings

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:21-23

I may be off in my interpretation, but I take the word mercies here to mean blessings. God loves us so much and continues to pour His blessings down on us, bringing us hope.

The other night, a friend and I just had a moment of standing in awe of all the blessings the Lord has been handing us lately. Sometimes we are just overwhelmed by how much we are loving life and are incredibly grateful, giving thanks to the One who faithfully provides for us over and over. I am thankful for the lifetime of blessings the Lord has in store for my life!

The Number 17

I explained the Blessing for Life part of my blog in an early post, but did not share the significance of the number 17.

When I was in 7th grade, I joined the soccer team at school. My family was on vacation during the first week of practice, so I was not there when they handed out jerseys. The night before I would be able to get my jersey, I was thinking about what number I wanted, knowing there would only be a few left. I thought getting number 17 would be cool because that was my birthday - December 17th. I met with the coach the next day to get a jersey, and sure enough - number 17 was left there just for me! I played soccer for 5 years and was always number 17.

Story of Your Life

I bought a new CD before all my travels last weekend - Matthew West's The Story of Your Life. He spent 2 months in a cabin reading through pages and pages of stories fans sent in about their struggles and journeys in life. He wrote songs based on the stories he was sent. The first song on the CD is called The Story of Your Life, and some of the lyrics are as follows:

This is the story of your life
You decide
How the rest is gonna read
This is your chance between the lines
To redefine what kind of legacy you leave
This is the story of your life
And it's a story worth telling

We each decide how to spend our lives and what kind of legacy we will leave behind. I appreciate the line, "And it's a story worth telling." I love having the opportunity to share my stories and life experiences! I enjoy hearing stories from others too and getting to know then in that way. So check out the song here and start thinking about how you want the story of your life to look!

Learning from Others

Back in April, I made it a goal to shadow 3 people. I shadowed someone at Roberts back in May, with the hopes of finding 2 more this semester.

For one of my classes, we got to pick a topic we wanted to learn more about and decide ways to make that happen. I chose to learn more about grant writing by checking out websites, reading a book, writing grants, and shadowing or interviewing people.

I have made several connections by way of friends who know grant writers. Tonight I had a phone conversation with a Roberts alum named Bethany. She now works for an organization down in Philly as the executive director and does a lot of grant writing. She gave me insight into her experiences, sharing about topics not usually covered in grant writing workshops such as budgets and reporting afterwards. She said the number one important thing about grant writing is attention to detail - a strength of mine! Bethany also gave me ideas of where to go when I'm thinking about looking for a job.

I was thankful for the time Bethany gave to talk to me. She shared some websites with me and gave me the name of someone to talk to up here at another organization. She gave me some good tips and information to think about.

I am looking forward to learning more as I find others to shadow or interview.

GAP Leadership

This is me and Abbie at our dinner/game night for small group. Abbie is part of the leadership for GAP and was basically my first contact in GAP. She lead the Bible Study I got involved in back in May - my first night attending was another dinner/game night inbetween studies. I have appreciated her leadership throughout the study on success, and now she is branching off and forming a new group with newer GAP members. I am thankful for the time I was able to spend getting to know her - she will be missed, but I know I will still be seeing her on Sunday mornings and at other GAP events!

I have the unique oppoortunity this semester to gain a better understanding of what Abbie does for GAP. I chose to serve her throughout the semester, finding ways to encourage her as I learn from her leadership. I found out that she was one of the formers of GAP a few years ago. She had a vision, and along with other young adults at Browncroft, started GAP. I am so very thankful for the ministry she began, and I'm glad I have gotten involved with it.

I am grateful for the friendship we have formed, and I look forward to learning more about leadership from Abbie this semester!

Content at Roberts

A year ago today I was in Ohio visiting Cedarville University, considering transferring and becoming a nursing major! Can you imagine what my life would be like if I had done that - I sure can't!

Last summer, I was very unhappy with the idea of going back to Roberts as a business major. However, since I hadn't made any other plans, I headed back in the fall to see how things went. I was pretty miserable and decided to call Cedarville and set up a time to visit them during my October Break. Since I was not thrilled about being a business major, I decided to find out what it would take to be a nursing major. Of course this meant practically starting my college career over as none of my business classes would transfer to count for anything. The registrar was helpful in drawing up a plan for classes I would need, but I would have graduated in 2013! I really liked the school and appreciated the people I met there. The nursing thing was working out, expect for one course - I would have had to take Chemistry over the summer at home. I worked on contacting who I needed to in Binghamton, but in the end, I never got an answer about taking that course. All for the best I suppose.

I enjoyed my visit to Cedarville and even sent in my application, keeping the whole idea on the hush-hush since nothing had been decided for sure. I continued my courses at Roberts, but didn't really make plans past the end of the semester - I was so ready to get out of there.

By the second week in November I wrote my parents a letter - things had changed. I told them how much I was enjoying my classes and my time at Roberts. I had switched from accounting to a management major, and was enjoying the discussions in class. I was enjoying getting to know my new roommate, and was having fun with my friends. I was taking time to figure out what I liked to do and made time for me. I told my parents I was at peace about staying at Roberts, as a management major, continuing to learn more about myself.

I am very thankful that the Lord allowed me to decide to stay at Roberts. Since making that decision, I have developed many friendships, gotten involved in a church, learned a lot in classes, and have simply enjoyed the college experience. My life has changed a lot from a year ago, and I am thankful for where I am today.

Pumpkin Pie for the First Time

Amy and I made our very own pumpkin pie for the first time last night! We had to substitute for some of the ingredients, but we made our own crust. Pumpkin pie is definitely a fall classic, and paired with some apple cider it made for a delicious dessert today!

Trip to Philly

I am in Philadelphia, PA visiting my sister, Amy. She went to school here, and is now working. It's always fun to head down and spend some time with her. She recently moved into a house with new roommates, so I was able to meet them and see her new place.

Today we went to a farmer's market and got some homemade soft pretzels, strawberries, and peach pie! It was such a nice day, so we went for a walk at Valley Forge National Historical Park - where Washington and his troops spent a winter.

Amy helped me out with a school project, and we worked on some fun, crafty projects while watching a movie. I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here in Philly!

Lunch with Friends

Brittany, Pam, Heather, and I spent part of the afternoon together. We met Pam at work to have a birthday lunch celebration! Pam's birthday is in less than 2 weeks. We brought her Nirchi's chicken spiedie pizza, a present, and cake! It was nice outside, so we enjoyed the sunshine while catching up with each other. We couldn't remember the last time the 4 of us were together, so I was thankful we were all in town the same afternoon.

Heading Home

I'm on vacation!! I am heading home after I type this up! It's October Break at Roberts, and I have a fun, long weekend ahead! Here's what I have planned between now and Tuesday night:

-lunch date with friends
-shopping
-visiting Fashion Bug - where I worked in high school
-sleeping in
-getting birthday presents ready for friends
-traveling to Philly to visit Amy
-doing crafty stuff
-going to an appointment
-relaxing
-reading and doing a little bit of homework
-organizing pictures
-going to the Cider Mill

I am looking forward to the time away with family and friends!

Edible Acorns

I am in a class called Creativity and Problem Solving this semester. If we bring a creative snack to class, we get extra credit. I decided to make these fun acorns! They are made by dipping plain donut holes in peanutbutter and rolling them in crushed peanuts (I used almonds here). Then you add a piece of a pretzel on top for the stem. They are the perfect snack for this time of year!

Building Trust

Today in class we talked about trust. At the beginning of class, without knowing what I was getting myself into, I volunteered to help out with something later on. The professor ended up pulling 6 people from the class to do a trust fall with me - and this didn't end up being your usual trust fall. We did it 3 times:

1) To start, I stood on the table as my catchers had their arms interlocked ready to catch. I alerted them of my falling and fell backwards, screaming on my way down.

2) Next, my catchers had to begin with their arms at their sides. Once I said I was falling they could move their arms toward each other. I did not scream as I fell this time, and they caught me without a problem.

3) At this point, my professor tells my catchers to take 2 steps back. I'm staring at an empty floor as I look down from the table. They are not allowed to move until I say I am falling. I turn my back toward them and tell them I'm falling. Without screaming again, I fall backwards into the arms of my trusty classmates!

If we had started out with fall #3, I don't think I would have had enough confidence in my friends - I was able to build a trust with them over time. They proved they could catch me the first two times, so I trusted they would catch me even though they started farther away the third time. It's important to take the time to build trust in order to have confidence in others.

SIFE Kickball

Above is Honna, Carrie (our SIFE Advisor), Amy, and myself. Our SIFE team took on a challenge tonight - the social work club on campus challenged us to a game of kickball! We gave it our best shot and came out on top with a final score of 36-20. After the game we shared a meal together, then the SIFE directors had a meeting to encourage each other and discuss our mission statement as well as other important events coming up. It was a fun way to spend the evening bonding as a team and to show off our kickball skills!

3 and Counting

My goal was to meet and really get to know 3 new people this year, and I have definitely accomplished that! I already posted about Rachel and Audrey, and my friend, Jayce, is the third I'm going to share about.

I met Jayce back in May at my first GAP Gathering. He was super friendly and ended up inviting me to a Memorial Day BBQ at his house. I went to his BBQ and got to know him through volleyball at the beach on Saturdays.

I've been to a couple more of his BBQ's - where he always features tacos in a bag! He loves playing games, which he usually beats me at. He's really involved at Browncroft, and loves meeting new people! He was the one who connected me to Audrey - and we are so thankful he did!

Jayce loves getting the most out of life and is always up for adventures. He is enthusiastic about the things of the Lord and helps out with the 7th grade boys at church. I am thankful for the fun he brings to my life and the encouragement he offers.

I am thankful to have formed such great new relationships this past year, and look forward to others the Lord will bring my way.

Pedicures

Today Audrey (left) and I (right) got pedicures! We figured our feet deserved some tender loving care after running over 250 miles during our half marathon preparations and the race itself. It was a nice relaxing afternoon, and I'm sure our feet were thankful for the attention they were given!