My Weekend, In A List.

1. The 2nd Annual Greek Gala. It was great to see the event Ryan & I started continue on. Rachel & Nick did a GREAT job, and I loved being able to present the awards.

2. I got to talk to admitted students who are thinking very seriously about coming to Drake and are interested in Greek Life on Friday afternoon. It was super fun - I loved see how excited they all were about coming to college next year!

3. Playing with Kaylee.

4. Relays For Life!! I loved hanging out with my sisters and raising awareness :)

5. After RFL, Emily & I went to Star Bar to catch up. We hadn't really spent anytime together since getting back from spring break. So we decided to be real people (we were really nervous!) and went to a bar, had a drink and shared our stories about our mission trips. It was so great to hear how similar her experience in St. Louis was to mine in NYC. After sharing about spring break, we just had a great time chatting and sharing our lives.

6. DG Founders Day was March 15, so Alpha Lambda celebrated on Saturday. It was great to see all the alums come back to celebrate DG. It is really fun seeing the girls who have graduated the past two years come back and hearing what they're doing.

7. Babysitting

8. Mass & Student Suppers were really great tonight. We talked and sang about the woman at the well and thirsting for Christ. It was a great homily, & it was great to be in that setting again. It was weird not going to daily mass this past week after going everyday over spring break. I think I am going to try and go at least twice this week.

9. Hanging out in Middle Four tonight was so much fun. Emily & I were trying to do homework, but ended up writing all over Sarah's wall. So what did we do? Obviously we drove to Morehouse & picked her up. We drove around Drake's campus listening to really weird music, and then went back home to DG. At one point I left the room...BIG MISTAKE. Sarah & Emily got on my facebook and updated my status about 7 times. This then turned into an hour long facebook war. They were bullying me. It was so so so funny. One of my status' ended up with 123 comments on it, and just about every single one of those comments were "liked." One of my status updates was "two friends are better than no friends...I guess..." The night got funnier when our friend Carley came upstairs with the purpose of finding me to ask why my facebook status was so sad. Though they were bullying me, I was very happy to be able to spend time with the two of them. I apologize to anyone who's newsfeed we took over!

10. Sarah & I are both now laying in my bed blogging. I think she's going to spend the night. She has 8 am class. NBD. :)

Meshell.

Yesterday was Wednesday. Wednesday's are great. I don't have class.

1. I started yesterday off getting lunch with a camp friend. Beef was back in town picking up some transcripts and letters of recommendation. We went to Jethro's and shared our lives for an hour. It is crazy to think that three short years ago I nervously made my way to the field house to Beef's (then Coach Needham to me) office to have my camp interview. And now I am prepping for summer number three. It was great to hear what he is excited about right now and share how much I am growing. God is so good for giving me Camp and all of the wonderful people whom I have met through that experience. I can't wait until summer 2011.

2. Wednesday's mean discipleship with Lori. Yesterday that meant going over to the FOCUS women's house and sharing stories about our spring break trip. A group of Drake students went to Denver for a "Mile High Immersion." It sounded like they had a great time and really grew in community. I was able to share more deeply with Lori about what God had done in my life in New York (I will continue to update on that trip later, I just needed to share how great Wednesday was) and hear her insight about my experiences. I love being able to share those two hours on Wednesday afternoon's with her. I left their house pretty fired up about life, Jesus, and sharing his community with others.

3. Next, I went to work. I was a little nervous because it had been awhile since I had seen Kaylee. I was also being observed by her new case manager, and was nervous I'd be rusty on my therapy skills. But this was without a doubt the highlight of my day. We have been working with Kaylee on tacting (naming) pictures of people she works with and places that she goes. While I have been away, they have added her three ABA therapists (that's me!) to the stack. Now first of all, Kirsten (another one of Kaylee's therapist) provided my picture for Kaylee's visual schedule. She went through my facebook profile pictures to find one. Kaylee has a visual schedule so she knows what is going to be happening in her day (I need one of these in my life). So the last time I showed up for work, Ami whipped out this senior picture:

This is ridiculous. Not only was I 18 when this picture was taken, but I look hilarious. I love that this is the picture that Kirsten picked. It makes me laugh every time. So this what Kaylee sees every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. But anyways, when we were working on tacting, I pulled out this picture and asked "Kaylee, who is this!?" she simply smiled and said "Meeeshell." My heart melted a little. Kaylee was in the best mood ever and I had so much fun working with her yesterday. I have the two best jobs in the world - working at camp and working with Kaylee.

4. Recruitment counselor interviews were fun again. I love spending time with our recruitment team + Emily, and it was awesome to meet so many women who are excited about giving back to the recruitment process. We won't know who our recruitment counselors are until Tuesday, but I know we will have a fabulous group.

5. The night ended very, very late with Sarah. I learned that if I want to be productive, I probably shouldn't study with her because I had way too much fun. We had a facebook war, harassed Emily H into bringing us snacks, and relearned this game. Sarah has a video on her computer of us doing it. So so funny.

Hump day is the best.

Resting and Renewal.

New York City. The biggest and most populated city in America. Filled with countless historical landmarks. People go to New York to "make it" and to fulfill their "American Dream." Christ was so alive there.

When I think of missionaries, I think of developing countries. I don't think of the ghettos, or big, seemingly successful cities. People just don't go into those "bad" areas. Sadly, God's love is needed so much there. In our own backyards. And what is so beautiful is that this week I was able to encounter so many young religious living all over NYC (The Bronx, Manhattan, Harlem, & Yonkers) truly living for Christ. Showing His love and reaching out to the poorest of the poor.

Saturday 3/19
Travel Day.
I flew out of MCI at 7:41 am and landed in LaGuardia at 11:00 (EST)! I landed in a weird Delta only terminal, so I was so worried and confused about meeting up with the rest of the group. But I grabbed my bag and hopped on a bus! Luckily I ran into Sean from Bradley heading to terminal 2 to meet up with the rest of the FOCUS group!

Saturday consisted of traveling, sitting in large group circles, and getting to know you questions. The best questions were: who is your favorite saint & what would your super power be. It was determined that wanting to fly was lame and generic.

That evening we went to Catholic Underground. It is put on by the Franciscan Friars of Renewal (CFR's). It was located in the beautiful Our Lady of Good Counsel. The night consisted of praise and worship, adoration, and confession. It was a beautiful experience to begin our trip. The coolest thing about Catholic Underground was how packed the church was. We were a little late and were stuck in the back on the floor. It was okay because it was so good to see so many young people living out their Catholic faith.

Sunday 3/20
Retreat Day.
On Sunday, we went on a hike an hour outside of NYC up Bear Mountain with the CFR's and the Sisters of Life. We were quite the site to see - students and religious literally hiking up the side off a mountain, off of the trail. The sisters were all in their habits and the friars were all in their robes. Hilarious.

This was a day filled with appreciating the beauty of God's creation, and so many good conversations. I was really able to connect with so many different sisters, brothers, and people in our mission group. I love being in relationship and community with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and it was so good to do it in a natural setting.

After the hike, we stopped by the World Youth Alliance for a tour. It was really cool to see these young professional women and hear their stories about how they are truly making and impact on policy across the world. 

Next, we went to a Frascati group for dinner. We had no idea where we were or what we were doing, but made some friends with young Catholics living in NYC. It was awesome.

That night, we got to worship here:

Photo Credit: Jonathan Ervin

It was beautiful. I had a great talk with Father Gabriel about what true leadership is about and deepening relationships.

Those first two days flew by. We returned home (Our Lady of New York), said night prayer and went to bed - only for a few hours. The next day our work would begin. 

Back To Reality

I have been trying and trying to write about spring break, but have been failing miserably.

It was incredible. Those are the only words I have right now. I will post a more detailed post about my trip (pictures included!) tomorrow.

But now, I am back to school and already overwhelmed and consumed by school and panhellenic work. When we were in NYC, we were never told our daily schedule until the night before - sometimes not until the morning of. It was so refreshing. It truly allowed us to give everything to God. It was really hard for me because I am such a planner. Being able to just live without schedules or worries was so beautiful and truly freeing. I think that was one of the biggest things I took from the trip - the ability to just be present and focus on what God has put in front of me. At school I am so consumed with my daily to do lists and crazy schedule that I don't think I am really present all the time. So now I am at school with all of those crazy things threatening my sanity and relationships. I know it is important to plan ahead and make lists to accomplish these tasks, but I don't want them to consume me. I have learned how to trust my day to God this past week, so I am really going to try to actually make it happen, starting now.

So tomorrow, I will write a little more about NYC. But know it was so good. :)

Sneak Peak:

Empire State of Mind.

You guys.

In 5 hours, I am waking up.
In 5 hours and 45 minutes, I am leaving my house.
In 7 hours and 41 minutes, I'll be taking off from MCI.
In 11 hours, I'll be in NEW YORK CITYYY.

I am so excited. It is my spring break (WHOOOO) and I am going on a mission trip with FOCUS. We will be working with two religious orders and serving the people in the Bronx. We will be working in homeless shelters, with AIDS patients, and shelters for homeless single mothers. I'm going to be completely out of my comfort zone. It's going to be awesome. I can't wait to see how God is going to use me to serve others and use this mission to speak to me.

Mission Info & Source!

Please pray for those of us o this mission and the people we will be serving throughout this coming week. I won't be bringing my computer (detachment), so I won't be able to post. But I will post an update when I get home on Saturday. Thanks for your prayer - I can't wait for NYC!!

Lent

When was the last time you were hungry? Like really hungry? Honestly? I don't remember. We are so so so privileged in our society. We have access to such an abundance of food. I think we just go from meal to meal and eat because it is the designated time, and then snack in between because we're bored. We forget what hunger is. Which makes it hard for us to relate to those people, in our own backyards and across the world, who are truly starving.

So for lent, I'm giving up snacking. I'm going to try not to snack between meals at all, but I am mainly giving up snacking in the evenings. Because that is when I snack the most. It is so easy for me to walk downstairs into the DG kitchen and make myself a snack of whatever I'd like. I do it out of connivence, boredom, and because of the pleasure food brings.

I'm hoping that in the moments of hunger (and I use that word lightly) I will turn to God and offer up my "suffering" to and for him. I'm hoping my hunger will turn into a deep hunger for Christ, and that I will turn to him to be filled up - instead of turning to the DG kitchen. I'm also focusing on praying for those who hunger and being more grateful for what I have.

Mid-Day Inspiration

Also, I am a HUGE fan of Libby Ryder's blog. She is an inspirational and beautiful woman with such a pure heart, and her story is incredible. If you know her story at all or have been effected by it in anyway, look here.

Craziness

I've been MIA. And I'm sorry. This has been a crazy time.

Since I've last posted:
1. I took two tests
2. I wrote 7 pages
3. Went to a phenomenal conference (post to come later), and
4. Had 9 meetings.

The rest of this week is pretty busy too. I have two more tests, quite a few meetings, and a large to do list before I leave on Friday.

As I am getting a handle on my life, I am looking forward to a few things that are coming up:
1. Mission Trip to The Bronx in 4 days
2. My birthday in 9 days
3. Going home in 3 days
4. DG Founders day in 18 days
5. Being at CT to kick on the summer in 67 days

Time to study!

PS - Lent starts tomorrow. Just incase you forgot :)

Welcome to National Ritual Celebration Week. Brought to you by Phi Mu.

I really like celebrations. So this is an exciting week. It's a week where we can get back to our basics and our roots as members of greek organizations. It's a week that allows us to celebrate who we are as fraternity and sorority men and women.

For me, there is nothing more important to greek life than our ritual. When people think of fraternities and sororites, they think of social organizations. But, as I have come to discover through excellent programs such as UIFI, FuturesQuest, and AFLV, being social is simply a benefit of membership.


So this week, I will celebrate being a Delta Gamma. I will not celebrate our awesome crush parties, or our beautiful house. I will not celebrate the business we must accomplish that makes us a an organization.

Instead, I will celebrate who we are as women, and as an organization. I will celebrate the wonderful values and traditions that Anna Boyd Ellington, Eva Webb Dodd, and Mary Comfort Leonard created when they came together in 1873.

This week I will celebrate all that we do to fulfill this:

Delta Gamma offers to women of all ages a rich heritage based upon principles of personal integrity, personal responsibility, and intellectual honestly. Its primary purpose is to foster high ideals of friendship, promote educational and cultural interests, create a true sense of social responsibility, and develop the finest qualities of character.