Following HIS Lead

yup thats right faithful readers, i was able to experience the awesome power outage in the Brazos Valley last night-what a great welcoming-but really it was a fun night back: dinner & hanging out with some of my favorite girls: Tracy, Didi and Val

Clearly, im back in College Station. I'm here spending some time with my dad as he recovers from his heart attack. Praise the Lord my professors & job are flexible enough that i was able to come to Texas for a week. The Lord is faithful to provide, comfort and heal-all glory and praise goes to Him!

If youre in CS, gimme a ring, i'd love to see ya :o)

grace & peace,
lish

theres comes a fine line with expectations.

• To expect too much is to have a sentimental view of life and this is a softness that ends in bitterness. Flannery O'Connor

• Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life. William Congreve

• What you have made me see," answered the Lady, "is as plain as the sky, but I never saw it before. Yet it has happened every day. One goes into the forest to pick food and already the thought of one fruit rather than another has grown up in one's mind. Then, it may be, one finds a different fruit and not the fruit one thought of. One joy was expected and another is given. But this I had never noticed before - that the very moment of the finding there is in the mind a kind of thrusting back, or setting aside. The picture of the fruit you have not found is still, for a moment, before you. And if you wished, if it were possible to wish - you could keep it there. You could send your soul after the good you had expected, instead of turning it to the good you had got. You could refuse the real good; you could make the real fruit taste insipid by thinking of the other." C.S. Lewis

• Rarely do the followers exceed the expectations of the leaders. Unkown

EXPECTATIONS:
are they good or bad? should we set high expectations? so quality and excellence is maximized or should we have low expectations so they are easily met and attained? or should we have no expectations at all so we're not disappointed or left wanting?

i don't have the answers to any of those questions, but too many times i feel like i've set too high of expectations and im left feeling failed and disappointed, then comes the thinking that if my expectations were lowered, i would be much happier; but would i???
thinking about my expectations in school, with work, in friendships & relationships and church, leads me to the other side of expectations, thinking about what the Lord expects out of me and in searching Scripture, the Lord expects/wants excellence, my best, complete and utter dependence [Prvb 31, Eph 4, Gal 5, 1 Peter 4, James 3, Hebrews 11 and many others]. He expects me to live a holy life, seeking His face, proclaiming His name to the ends of the earth, loving others with His eyes and compassion, pouring out grace and truth, surrendering, losing my life.

are my expectations for others a personality flaw/weakness? am i setting myself up for constant disappointment? how do i remedy this without feeling like im selling out to mediocrity or settling? my constant desire is to please the Lord and magnify Him "living a life worthy of the calling".
my prayer is that my expectations are founded in biblical truth and not selfish desire so at the end of the day its not about me.


grace & peace,
lish

so in light of the previous post, i probably shouldnt have just watched the new TAMU promo video..and nor should i be telling all the masses that read this blog, but yeah i'll admit it, it brought a tear to my eye..but i think thats cause my homesickness has been really bad lately...

so there ya go..and A&M video almost made me cry.

grace & peace,
lish

well..it shouldnt surprise me the day i write about not having anything exciting happening...something happens.

so i dont know if ive mentioned this but since the middle of August ive been donating plasma twice a week and have saved up a nice little travel fund. well, my money earning scheme has now been put on hold for 8 weeks due to "infiltration". my arm swelled & looked like there was a golf ball under the skin.
for the not so faint of heart, i'll hopefully be posting pictures of the quite large bruise that im going to have due to the "injury".

needless to say, no more plasma donating until my red blood count is back up in two months.

so its been a couple days since a post. nothing too exciting has been going on. ive been working on a post about culture, but every week theres more stuff to think about and so its not quite ready for posting...but soon! i had my first quizzes in mgmt and did as well as i thought i would, which wasn't great. theres just something about "business" and my brain that just dont connect...its like learning a foreign language, or harder! needless to say, more time will be devoted to studying those chapters.

work has been picking up; we have World Community Day coming up next week on Tuesday and the Int'l House has a huge part to play in that...basically is a world awareness day educating campus on countries and cultures-there are a ton of people coming out from Peace Corps volunteers to the Passport Agency and International awareness non-profits. I'll be helping out with the Study Abroad table and helping escort our "visitors" around-it should be crazy, but fun!

church is going well. i'm getting involved with the worship team. most likely im going to be doing female vocals. the way its set up is we have 2 bands that alternate weeks. and then i'm also going to be put on the nursery rotation-yea for babies! the "series" we've been on in big church has been about being overwhelmed. its been encouraging to hear and apply practical truths to the stresses that come up in my life, because i forget so easily that im not in control and totally have the strength to endure. in small group we've been expanding on the sermons as the kickoff isnt until the 24th. claude, our leader usually asks a question and facilates the discussion.

thats all i got. still alive & kickin' in greenville-the fall weather has been glorious, a little rainy, but the temperature divine!

grace & peace,
lish

a huge thanks to all who made my first birthday far from home special!
i loved all the phone calls, emails & ecards, cards and facebook msgs



the pigtails are for you william!
my birthday celebration was fun, me & some people from class went to chili's, very enjoyable and glad i didnt spend the whole night at home!

im so blessed by all of yalls friendships!
grace & peace,
lish

People keep asking me what grad school is like..and all i can tell them is its a lot of reading, so i thought i'd give you a glimpse of my everyday life:
this is an exerpt from

Since capital, the direct or indirect control of the means of subsistence and production, is the weapon with which this social warfare is carried on, it is clear that all the disadvantages of such a state must fall upon the poor. For him no man has the slightest concern. Cast into the whirlpool, he must struggle through as well as he can. If he is so happy as to find work, i.e., if the bourgeoisie does him the favour to enrich itself by means of him, wages await him which scarcely suffice to keep body and soul together; if he can get no work he may steal, if he is not afraid of the police, or starve, in which case the police will take care that he does so in a quiet and inoffensive manner. During my residence in England, at least twenty or thirty persons have died of simple starvation under the most revolting circumstances, and a jury has rarely been found possessed of the courage to speak the plain truth in the matter. Let the testimony of
the witnesses be never so clear and unequivocal, the bourgeoisie, from which the jury is selected, always finds some backdoor through which to escape the frightful verdict, death from starvation. The bourgeoisie dare not speak the truth in these cases, for it would speak its own condemnation. But indirectly, far more than directly, many have died of starvation, where long-continued want of proper nourishment has called forth fatal illness, when it has produced such debility that causes which might otherwise have remained inoperative brought on severe illness and death. The English working-men call this "social murder", and accuse our whole society of perpetrating this crime perpetually. Are they wrong?
[…]
Every great city has one or more slums, where the working-class is crowded together. True, poverty often dwells in hidden alleys close to the palaces of the rich; but, in general, a separate territory has been assigned to it, where, removed from the sight of the happier classes, it may struggle along as it can. These slums are pretty equally arranged in all the great towns of England, the worst houses in the worst quarters of the towns; usually one- or two-storied cottages in long rows, perhaps with cellars used as dwellings, almost always irregularly built. These houses of three or four rooms and a kitchens form, throughout England, some parts of London excepted, the general dwellings of the working-class. The streets are generally unpaved, rough, dirty, filled with vegetable and animal refuse, without sewers or gutters, but supplied with foul, stagnant pools instead. Moreover, ventilation is impeded by the bad, confused method
of building of the whole quarter, and since many human beings here live crowded into a small space, the atmosphere that prevails in these working-men's quarters may readily be imagined. Further, the streets serve as drying grounds in fine weather; lines are stretched across from house to house, and hung with wet clothing.

just one slelction of the 300 pages (and thats no exaggeration) of reading i had for this week-it by far has been the easiest to read through,
anyways...ive gotta get back to writing.

grace & peace,
lish

Praise the Lord.

I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord, they are pondered by all who delight in them
Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.
He has shown his people the power of his works; giving them the lands of other nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness.
He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever-holy and awesome is his name.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning gof wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

I confess lately ive forgotten. ive been caught up in other things and the Lord is patiently waiting for me to get a clue. 3 separate times today i read "be still and know the Lord..", think He's trying to tell me something?
In my initial mental preparations for moving, what i thought it was going to be like, what the transition was going to look like, etc. i imagined this huge "shift", a profound, clear, obvious change into something better, and perhaps cooler. The summer was this constant readiness for something else, excited that there was a physical time it was going to start and take place. And tonight the Lord has taken hold of me and put me face to face with His consistency, steadfastness and faithfulness. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Gently and lovingly, He's taken me in His arms and said remember. No matter what house im sitting in, or what campus im attending school, its still a daily surrender of myself to glorify Him in my body.

While North Carolina is exciting and different, most everything in my life is still the same. I still constantly battle waking up in the morning, being a single gal in North Carolina stinks as much as it did in Texas, the Holy Spirit is still convicting and teaching me more intimately everyday, i have school/work responsibilities, the list goes on and on. As I sit back and think about all those expectations I had, I find myself feeling silly, wondering why I thought it was going to be so different.
The words of the psalmist speak such truth and reflect the current state of my heart.
Following Him, fearing Him will lead to understanding and wisdom in the places Im confused; seeking Him daily,reverently will answer the whys and hows i have about my future and relationships.

thats all i got for now.
God is good, all the time, His love endures forever.

grace & peace,
lish

so apparently theres a tropical storm hitting...and im in the middle of it.

so work at the honors program office is a bit more "formal" than the international house, but i think im going to enjoy it; John, my immediate supervisor is quite the professional. i have my own desk (well, i share it with the other GAs, but i'm the only one that works on Wednesdays) and the work is fairly simple, I just do whatever John or Dr. Bassman, or the other advisors tell me to do. I'll be working 9-2 every Wednesday so that will give me plenty of time to start readings for my classes and catch up on news. Today I answered the phones and arranged some activities for when our elementary school kids come to campus.

the plasma donations have been going well, except the fact that my veins are weak..so it kinda looks like im a drug addict, because i've been poked so much!

i guess life in greenville is almost routine. im slowly getting to know the people in my classes and building relationships at church. but as a whole, the loneliness has crept up on me, seeping into the little things-that, at the end of the day make it feel like its been a bad day. i havent "lost it" yet, you know the just-need-to cry-&-start-&-then-cant-stop? so i guess thats a good sign, but there have been a couple nites where probably given 5 more minutes i couldve. Its a weird feeling i carry around..cause ultimately i think its loneliness, but im surrounded by people all the time, and am interacting with them. and its not a not wanting to be here, because i really am enjoying the work and the classes, while i complain about all the reading, i am excited about it all. so, needless to say, i think its just typical moving to a new place, but for some reason it feels different than all the other times i've been away from home and friends.
anyways, keep me in your prayers..ive gotta get back to working....

grace & peace,
lish

my first week of grad school is over and i already have quite a work load, and i've only been to 1 class!
Friday night was spent with some chinese and mgmt. i read til my brain was mush..you know the point where youre reading but the minds isnt processing anything that your eyes are reading? i got about 75% done, which i was happy with.
Saturday was spent at the beach, Atlantic Beach, close to Morehead City; we took a group of 30 exchange students & got some surf boards and i had my first surfing lesson! the surf was pretty flat, which means no good. unfortunately, the East Coast so far is not my favorite. While, beautiful and cool, I had a horrible allergic reaction to something during my time there and finally today, the rash for the most part has gone away.
After church, I set up camp to finish up mgmt for my first class tomorra night and then started in on global issues..the class that will consume most of my time looking at the syllabus.
Work at the international house is slowly picking up. Until the middle of october, I will be manning a table 2 days a week from 11-1 at ECU's rudder fountain/msc breezeway equivalent recruiting students to study abroad. and then there will be other various projects that i'll be working on.

In other news, I've started a Bring Alisha Home Fund. and its not what you think....:)

This fund is my savings for airplane tickets for my visits back to the great state of TX. So if after prayerful consideration, the Lord leads you to give, or for some reason you have a tree that money starts growing on, or youre at a loss as to what to do with the extra income youve ended up with..please make checks payable to Alisha Lombardi and include BHAF in the memo line :) cash and all major credit cards are accepted as well :)

thats all for now, this study break is coming to an end.
its back to globalization...and hey..i'll include an interactive/educational part for all my faithful readers.

Please give me your own definition of what globalization is.

grace & peace,
lish

i completed my first day as a grad student; it was definitely weird walking around on-campus, not knowing anyone, not being familiar with campus, etc. i miss my aggies. the howdys, the long treks to class. and the only thing people have to respond with when they hear im from Texas is "yeah, UT was named the #1 party school.."

tomorra the fbi comes to our office, im volunteering at the winterville watermelon festival, and im going to donate plasma for the second time this week.

thats all from greenville.

grace & peace,
lish

i am so blessed by our great God. His unfailing kindness and provision never cease to make me stand in awe of Him and praise Him for His faithfulness to me, when I, at so many times feel like im failing Him.

Being in Greenville, He has provided housing, a church home and work, and slowly friends. Not only did I get a GAship in the International Affairs office working with the international exchange students, on top of that I have been given another part-time GAship working with the MAIS Honors program.

As for my church home, I went to small group this week and loved it. I felt like I was amongst friends and at home. There was good discussion and deep fellowship with one another. Tomorra Im going serving with them helping students move in. Discovery (thats the name of the church) is a small church plant here in Greenville that really focuses on community and service, being the Body to the people of Greenville. Ive already met a girl that wants to meet and practice Spanish with me, and another girl who is eager to be workout buddies...its such an encouragement to me not to have to hop around for a couple weeks, but really begin to invest.

Brandi, my roommate will move in this weekend and i have orientation, that i get to go to with the a minister's fiance, who is a grad student like me.

Thanks for all the prayers friends, i've felt them and the Lord has steadily been answering them.

grace & peace,
lish

well, ive got my ECUOnecard..thats what they call the id cards.

I started work today and helped all the new internationaal students get moved into their dorm rooms. it was a lot of walking, tomorra shouldnt be as tiring, but it will definitely be a long one since its orientation stuff all day; but it will be very informative for me, seeing as i kinda feel like an international myself.

anyways, classes start in a week. i think the international affairs office will be pretty fun, the staff is real laid back-already we've been joking around with one another, so im looking forward to being there.


thats about it,

grace & peace,
lish

so back in july while i was in jackson, there was a day when val was at her film workshop and her mom had turned the tv on to HGTV. so when i got up, i grabbed a book and made myself comfortable on the couch. i didnt bother turning the tv off, it wasnt too loud, and i was content to read...well, after like 3 hours i was hooked. there are so many interesting shows and cool things to do/try...anyways....that being said...

i wish i had a before picture so you can really envision the hard labor put into the new dresser...the stripping, and scrapping and sanding and more scrapping...so i started this project Tuesday afternoon and viola! Wednesday night its complete...i could totally be on Trading Spaces :)

i know it looks like something out of some kid's room or a nursery but i like it..a lot actually...im very tempted to redo my other one so it will match, but i havent decided...anyways,
thats all ive got.

grace & peace,
lish

first, let me say that im officially in Greenville, NC

my new address is
1014A Brownlea Dr.
Greenville, NC 27858

for those of you who like sending mail...

the drive was long, Dad and i stayed in Nashville (thanks again Jeffs!) on Thursday night and then hit the road again Friday morning, arriving at my new pad around 7:30. unfortunately, Tyron did not make the trip safely..he had to be taken to the mechanic Monday morning, once we got him to stop smoking and running in a quasi-drivable way. thankfully, it was not as bad as we thought (it was looking like an overhaul on the transmission) but PTL, he just needed flushed and some more transmission fluid, I was a very lucky girl!
Monday was quite a long day for me as i had to ride my trusty bike everywhere, boy did i get a workout in the heat! I went to the grocery store that night once i got Tyron back and Tuesday was spent running errands and then i spent the afternoon and evening refinishing my dresser. its not quite done, still needs a coat of seal on it and then i'll have its picture posted for yall to see. im quite impressed with myself seeing as its my first attempt to re-do something..stripping and sanding it was a little harder process than i thought it would be.

Today i took care of some more errands like utilities and a new bank account. I started doing some inquiries about school stuff and have some more leads to look into tomorra. Grad orientation is Saturday I found out, so i'll be checking that out in the morning and then the plan is to check out the Outerbanks..aka the beach! and theres a possibility that Ms. Kayla Glasgow might come out for a visit..we'll see (shes been working in Winston-Salem, which is about 3 hrs west of me...but still on my side of the country!); that would be all sorts of fun and exciting...you know? someone that i'm actually real-life friends with :) as opposed to the only daily people interaction i get is when I got the the store and run errands...i'll make friends soon..no worries. I've actually found some churches i'm going to check out in the next couple of weeks..sadly none of them have Wednesday night serivces, but one does small groups so i'm really looking forward to visiting there...

so onto the second topic of my post.
i just wanted to take the opportunity and thank all my wonderful friends for making my last days in College Station memorable. Marla, Faith, Emory, Charlotte, Mik, Tracy and Didi & Lisa May, thanks for coming out to dinner and girls i had a wonderful time on the "scanvenger hunt"!

summer is such a different kind of time. its a break from everything and you meet people you most likely never see during the year because for the most part everybody in your "normal" core group of friends has spread out doing different things...so heres to my summer friends and softball buddies! i pray the Lord's blessings over yall as you head into the new school year!

my phone and email are staying the same...please keep me updated with whats going on in your life as i will with you!

grace & peace,
lish

okay..so i love how the Lord works because as i was writing the previous post I felt like i was focusing on all this negative stuff, but really couldnt express the positive of what my heart truly feels. and tonight for tim skaggs going away, his daughter miranda performed this song that the worship leader from the village in dallas wrote and it really expresses the desires of my heart to a T: so i'll share it

Here I Am

Take me far away from here
Save me from this world of fear
Break me from the things I hold so near
they’re so far from You

Verse 2
Reveal to me what You want me to do
Place me where Your will draws me to
Lord be pleased with the worship I bring to You
I sing to You, I shout to You!

Chorus

Here I am, send me out let me shine for Your glory
I will read, I’ll live out and proclaim Your Word
Take me now, show me how I need to live not for me
But for You and Your glory.


there ya go.

i feel that the following picture, somewhat encompasses the Christian bubble of College Station, (and while I know this is a "brand" of cereal, sold in many other grocery stores in America, its highly appropriate that i found it at our HEB)



yes, thats right folks, breakfast good for the body AND soul: Ezekiel 4.9. and i'm not saying that this is yet another Christian-culture consumer good, like action figure Jesus or a "Jesus is my homeboy" shirt, because after reading the box, it is a good cereal for a healthy diet and is supported biblically; but in my farewell to College Station, seeing this cereal in the store Friday night really pin-pointed for me why me leaving is a God-thing.

im looking forward to moving out of the Bible belt, because Im tired of the "good Christians go overseas after college and wear chacos" mentality. and i admit that I thought like that for awhile and its harmful thinking. Having lived away briefly and met the Lord more intimately, to being back in it, ive learned the Lord calls us to more. a "that" which is possible in Bryan-College Station, New York City or Seattle, and Greenville North Carolina, anywhere. its a daily surrendering and loving that is beyond yourself wherever you are, be it a stay ay home mom, a consultant, a minister, an engineer, or a student.

so its only appropriate that my last Sunday at Central left me wanting more after listening to the sermon. no, nothing was said that was wrong or that i adamantly disagreed with, but it just left me thinking theres so much more, the picture is much bigger than Chris expressed to our congregation and i feel that our upper-middle class church is going to miss the boat, because our Lord is greater than we can even begin to imagine.


and dont get the wrong impression from this post...im not angry/upset about or think that people shouldnt do missions or go overseas or wear chacos (i have them), im wholeheartedly for all those things, and i love Central and think wonderful things are happening there and i do think the Lord is doing amazing things in this community. but for me, its time for a change and new challenges, the Lord has called others to stay in Aggieland and proclaim truth.

anyways,
more to come this week as i leave in 4 days.

peace out,
lish

okay so i just had to share this because it was so completely hilarious....well, to me it was anyways...

so i'm driving home from the mechanic, i'm on FM 159 by the church and this state trooper passes me going the other directions and u-turns rather quickly. so i think "oh no, was i speeding? is something really wrong with my truck?". so he comes mr. state trooper speeding up towards me and i think he's about to pass me when...he proceeds to "un-pull me over". thats right folks. he pulls up next to me while we're driving, to the point its that awkward parallel driving so i finally look over at him and he's motioning to me about my seatbelt...

see, im short and have to pull my seat up so close that my seatbelt chokes me, so most of the time when im driving i put it under my left arm, so that its still on and protecting, but not decapitating me...anyways, apparently it wasnt good enough, but wasnt bad enough to warrant and actual warning.

anyways...got out of yet another ticket..good thing i was clicked.

grace & peace,
lish

Next on my farewell list are the top ten things i WONT be missing about Aggieland...

10. Cox Communications
9. traffic
8. Fit for Kids
7. allergies
6. flooding
5. construction
4. restaurant waits
3. city ordinances
2. University PD & TS
1. the humidity..so long Brazos Valley

my first introduction to College Station was in 1995. My dad lost his job at the Houston Post newspaper and he got a job in Bryan. He started working in August and we finally moved to 1602 Treehouse Trl. in November, the week before Thanksgiving. It was a miserable time..I was 13, the middle of 7th grade and i had moved from Houston, to this little town where everyone had been friends since kindergarten and no one wanted to be friends with the "new girl", except one girl and her crazy family-the one and only Miss Tracy Rebecca Smith.

Tracy is such a dear friend to me, she almost qualifies as one of those friends that "youve grown up with"...and i am also lucky to call her a roommate (past and present!). Tracy and i have made many memories together from jr. high dnow when i swallowed my retainer, to living at helena jr. high to living life as graduate townies. [see im not the only one with squinty eyes...]

i love tracy-her dreamstar, quizzes and wonderful eye for decoration.

So Trace, you are the first in my farewell to CS.
I cherish your friendship and am going to miss you and all your fun, especially meals at the baker who is blue, like crazy. Thank you for befriending me 10 long years ago. i love ya chica.

grace & peace,
lish

someone got on to me about not putting up good updates..so i have some time this afternoon and thought i'd start a series (dont know how many its gonna be yet) on my farewell to College Station, as i go into the final week of living here in College Station. Included will be the things i will miss most, and the things i wont miss at all, the things that make this place a wonderful place to live and the parts that drive me crazy; i'll probably also recount the fun jobs and the countless areas of entertainment i've had in the past 10+ yrs of living here..enjoy!

10 days and counting....

..........greenville here i come!

well, we're back from the trip. we've actually been back since Tuesday night, but we've got dial up at the house so connecting isnt so convienient.

I've been realaxing, running a few errands here and there for Val while she's been at the film workshop.

its been good. i head back to college station sunday. the plans are to work and pack and head to NC the 9th of august.

if anyone is interested in a piano...i have one that i'm not gonna take with me...to much of a hassle.

thats it.
grace & peace,
lish

well, surprise surprise our plans changed and we arent not home in jackson, ms.

while on our way to nashville, we found out that the jeffs would not be free until 5pm. i was quite sad that i would not be able to see my rockstar friends, BUT Valerie got a call from her film boss and the film people messed up the dates, so she would not have to be at work until Wednesday which meant we could hang out and stay the night in nashville to see Brinkley, Hildebrand and Matt.

back to traveling, while on the road we stopped in Elizabethtown..where one of my favorite movies was filmed, I slept and missed Dinosaur World, but val did get a pic.




Once in Nashville, Val and I crashed at Jeff's place and waited for the guys to get home. And then...(drumroll please...) I ate sushi for the first time!





Yes, its true, me the picky eater that i am put raw fish in my mouth and while i wouldnt say i loved it, it wasnt too bad. Its funny that sushi was jeff's first choice for dinner because the day before Val and i got into this big discussion about my indecisivness, my pickyness and trying sushi...

After dinner, the boys had band practice so, val and i checked out the Parthenon, no we did not travel to Greece...its really in downtown nashville silly. it was a sight.



after we saw the sights it was back to the crib where we again crashed. the boys came home (with Matt! he was in dallas taking care of wedding stuff.) this morning they headed off to their jobs..we got to talk to Lawerence this morning and i think around lunchtime Val and i are officially gonna head home.


pictured above is a pretty classic shot of what our trip has been like :)

well, since my last post we have traveled through PA, WV, OH, IN and currently in KY fixing to go to TN.

in leiu of going to NYC val and i went to grove city, PA, the birthplace of our friendship. it was great to see larry, melissa and the kids,


we had some good food and much needed sleep, and of course, lets not forget SHEETZ.



sunday after church we headed to kentucky to visit yet another one of val's leadershape friends. katie k is really cool-i liked her a lot. we saw superman returns on the IMAX-and in 3-D, quite exciting, let me tell you, and plus we got free disposable cameras!




this morning we got up bright and early, as in 7am (the earliest we've woken up on this trip yet) and spent some time with the Martins! it was so good to hang out with oren and cindy; such a blessing and an encouragement.

as for the rest of our trip, we're planning to be in Nashville to grub with mr. Brinkley and possibly his rockstart roommies, Jeff H and Matt L for lunch, maybe see a little of nashvegas as they like to call it. after nashville its back to Jackson, MS for recovery.

fun fact for the day: I have been to all the midwest/eastern states in the United States of America (thats not including new england). val still lacks minnesota and michigan.

first of all, to all my faithful reader, my sincerest apologies for the lack of posts during our east coast adventure, but our internet availability has been less than stellar; but no worries...we're back online!

the next few posts will account our last couple days along the coast-accompanied with photos :)

enjoy.

current location: brooklawn, NJ
aggie count: 8

Wednesday was a long day.

I met with 3 people at school for 2 hrs. and then we headed out of town and drove to DC. The meetings at school went really well. I met with the summer director of my program, who in fact kinda started the MAIS program. I then went and talked with a girl who graduated from the MAIS program a year ago and now works for the International Affairs department at ECU. Talking with her was very affirming and i decided on my concentraion: International Education Administration. Since i nailed down my concentration i was able to register for my last class. After meeting with Brandi i headed up to the foreign language department, and took care of some legistics stuff and by noon, Val and i were on the road.

My duplex!


Once in DC, literally, right after we walked out of the metro, it began to ran...and not just a light drizzle. We headed up Pennslyvania Ave and saw the White House and Washington Monument. At the WH, we were stopped by a secret service agent, who turned out to be an Aggie (class of '02)..so Val and i were relieved that we werent being arrested and were excited cause he put our Aggie count at 2.




Since it was getting late, and we were coming back Thursday, after a dinner at a hole in the wall joint (and i mean, linoleum was screwed into the wall), we headed out to Baltimore, where we were staying for the night.

Thursday we saw the sights of Maryland and more of DC. We stayed the night with Val's friend Thao, who is a art student at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). Let me just tell you, sleeping on hardwood floors isnt the greatest, especially if it feels like your sleeping in an armpit, and there are semitrucks driving down the street at 6am, but on the upside, Thao was an awesome host-she made us crepes and showed us "the real" Baltimore...tacky flamingos, Mexican wrestling masks, and junkie antique/thrift stores.



After seeing the sites in Baltimore, we headed back to DC where we visited the Smithsonian. we saw the air and space museum and the american history one. it was kinda funny seeing a lot of things that i grew up with on display in a museum.




For dinner, we met up with one of Val's buddies and he took us to a great Thai place in Virginia, close where he lives...He's doing an internship at the dep. of justice and lives outside the city. After dinner, we headed out to Philadelphia, but didnt quite make it cause we got stuck in traffic...yeah who gets stuck in traffic at midnight? me and val do. so we ened up staying on the Delaware border, where we hoped to again update our blogs, but it didnt happen.

Today we slept in until 10 and then headed off to Philadelphia. We got into town and got in line to see the "sacred relic" of our great nation: the Liberty Bell; after an intense security search, we were able to take in all the bell's greatness.


After the Liberty Bell, we walked over to the Visitors Center to figure out what our next moves were going to be. After a yummy philly cheesesteak, we walked around The 2nd bank where many portraits of important US leaders are kept. can you guess whose in the portrait? I'll give you a multiple choice: A. John Kerry or B. Andrew Jackson after The Second Bank, we attempted to get on the internet with Philly's free wifi because we had some free time before our tour of Independence Hall started, but it wasnt working right, so we chilled in the visitor's center.

The "birthplace" of our nation was a cool place. Inside the historical park we went into Congress Hall, and then into the Independence Hall, where the Delcaration of Independence was signed-where yet again, the securtiy was tight..as in take off belts and watches (why? we're not really sure).



After the tour we headed out of town, and found a hotel. Grabbed some dinner at Friendly's and now are relaxing in the hotel room.

Check back around Sunday...tomorra we're headed out to Grove City to visit the Lewis family!

So "life is highway, I'm gonna ride it all night long..."-thats the motto of this trip: ALL NIGHT LONG

my trip to Jackson was quite uneventful-me and my luggage (minus my travel pillow) arrived around 6:00, I ate with Valerie's friend Anna and her family...her and her husband Grant are really cool and they have 2 really sweet kids. I hung out with them until Val got into Jackson which was until 11:00pm. Once home we crashed. Overnight was when things decided to get crazy.
We woke up Monday morning and her car wasn't ready, so we couldn't leave as planned..and so we waited, and waited, and waited and then waited some more. Val had so much grace and patient with the mechanics and we were finally on the road at 6:30pm in Val's mom's Explorer (Thanks Claudine!) cause her car still had problems. So we drove straight through the night Mississippi to Alabama, up to Georgia, South Carolina and finally to my soon to be new home of Greenville, North Carolina.

Here in Greenville has been quite exciting already. i met my roommate, Brandi, shes going to be a grad student in the fall studying Public Health. I think i'm gonna like her a lot and think it will be good living with her. We got ourselves a nice little duplex close to main campus..and its pretty cheap. Tomorra im meeting with my advisor and meeting some peeps in the department and then we'll be heading up to Baltimore, MD.

well, we're gonna find some grub.
grace & peace,
alisha

well, we arrived at 10am this morning droopy eyed and very excited to be out of the explorer.

valerie has the most recent post, check it out at vblakey.blogspot.com, but i'll put up more later...

peace from the east,
lish

unfortunately, this weekend i was without my camera so there are not photos to share with yall of the fun weekend I had with Charlotte, Emory and Mik. BUT i will let you read about it!

Sunday afternoon me, Charlotte and Emory drove up to Charlotte's house on Lake Grandbury to relax, play in the lake and celebrate the 4th of July in style.
Most of the time we were playing 42 and the dominoe "put up" game. Monday we all slept in and purchased the goods needed for the fun that night. after Charlotte's dad got off work we hit the water and i attempted to learn to water ski-and failed miserably. we had fun, the lake was pretty empty, Mik knee boarded, Emory did as well as I did and Charlotte showed us all up..but she grew up on the lake! After dinner, we headed up to the FBC-Grandbury parking lot to launch the 22 2 liters of diet sam's cola and the 7 boxes of mentos we purchased earlier that day. let me tell you it was awesome. apparently the phenomenon is to watch the diet coke spray out of the bottle, but we did it extreme-launching and throwing them in the air, watching them crash down and going flying in crazy directions exploding diet coke everywhere; we even got one to clear a light pole! we also experiemented with regular cola and dr. thunder, but neither worked as well as the diet coke. Tuesday rolled around and we all woke up early to hit the lake while it was smooth. I succeeded at wake boarding as well as knee boarding. After playing we headed to the square for lunch and to walk around, and it was scorching hot. The rest of the day was spent at the Terrel's preparing for the 4th party and once the guest came talking and mingling. Wednesday on the way home to CS i was hurting, and still am a little bit. All my muscles and joints were pretty sore, but it was fun nevertheless

It was a great couple of days to get away and good fellowship with summer friends that i didnt know very well, but got to know better. I was glad to get the invite and the Terrel's hospitality and kindness was such a blessing. My 42 fix was met and we had a bunch of laughs.

thats it...i've been working parttime back at aggieland...not my favorite, but i needed some income.
I leave for North Carolina in 4 days and then will be road tripping it with Valerie all the way up to Philadelphia back down through Kentucky and Nashville. I'll be back home in CS the 23rd and will most likely start packing for the big cross-country move.

I've officially been registered for 2 courses: Global Communication and International Problem Solving; which i've been able to look at one of the syllabi and i cant wait!

grace & peace,
lish

summer school is officially done.

hopefully next week i'll start part time work at the day care.

thats all

peace,
lish

both sets of keys have been found, put your worrying hearts at ease!

...Find Alisha's Keys

how is it possible to lose 2 sets of keys in one day? lucky for me, ive found the least important of the two; still on the search for my house keys

i might possibly have a roommate up in greenville.
i'll keep yall updated.

i'm headed to houston this weekend; fun times await me. the wedding is for a girl i grew up in houston with...should be a pretty fun reunion. people there i havent seen in like 5 or 6 years...and then i get to hang out with mr. meads. thats all, i know its not a super exciting post, but i'm bored at work and so messing around on the internet is all i can do....

anyways,

peace in the middle,
lish

i just felt the need to share how incredibly HUGE my bandage is.....

comforting words from my dr. as he instructs the medical student on fixing my toe:

"a good surgeon would do it like this...I mean, not that I'm not a good surgeon, but well, i do it differently..."

needless to say, my toe is fine..i have the most ginormous bandage on it right now and a really hot, blue paper slipper...im pretty sure my foot isnt going to fit in a shoe.

peace out,
lish

best-
Function: adjective, superlative of GOOD
~excelling all others

is best something you can measure?
what makes someone your best friend? i mean cause a lot of people have more than one best friend...and what distinguishes them above your "really good friends"?
Will is the 2nd best man in a wedding; because he's #2 does that lessen his best"ness"?
Philip, my Russian 4 yr old, told me and Ms. Rice we were the best teachers in the entire world; but am I as equally good as Ms. Rice?
what is "our best"?

being the best at something requires more, it isnt just average or satisfactory, people expect more because being the best makes you stand out above the rest, theres almost a sense of responsibility.

just random thoughts while i'm bored here at work.

grace & peace,
lish

let it be known that libby d. leatherman is one cool gal.

i was able to spend the weekend with this incredible chick; dallas weddings are great ops for trips to the metroplex. while the weddings arent my actual favorite, im glad they allow for time with the bff.

greace & peace,
lish

After working a week in summer school, I've come to a realization that (and this is a ginormous generalization) teachers never really outgrow high school and catty-ness. My first week has been literally exhausted my mind. The conversations I've listened to have been such an eye opener to the true meanness and pride that consumes our lives because of the overflow of our hearts through our mouths, if that makes sense. Minus a few conversations centered around health and growing up in College Station, all these church-going, Christ-beliving, nice, loving women talk about are other people and their dislike or annoyance of them. Simply put, they dont talk about anything, they gossip about everything, circling rumors, throwing flames from their tongues. I guess my test comes in at being the youngest, a rookie and not knowing how to combat it, but wanting the Lord glorified through our speech, and just glorify Christ in all I say and do. Authority and maturity and sin are pretty difficult to deal with and the devil does an amazing job at weaving these things together to creat confusion and a dilema in reflecting Christ's love and gospel cause its pretty near impossible to set the example at the bottom of pole, as I'm sitting in a group of women that are over me in my job and a lot older than me and are sister's in Christ. I'm not saying I can't do it, because I know in Christ, I have the power to move mountains, and through prayer I know these hearts can be changed. My hope and prayer for my group of teachers and myself this summer is that they would come to an understanding as it says in James 3 "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is a fire, a world of evel among all parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire......but the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness".
Its good for me to be conscious of the importance of filtering my speech, learning self-control but also knowing when to say something that needs to be said inspite of what others may say about me later when Im gone..and i think thats the hardest, most scariest part for me: praying for boldness of speech because I know the Lord will give it to me and then I'll have to be obedient to what He calls me to say.

the mouth is a powerful thing. let us be mindful of our words on a daily basis. speak the truth with grace because it perserves love, and we are called to love one another.

grace & peace,
lish

so much going on to post about..not really, but on top of working summer school, i'll be working part time at the psychology lab, tutoring and will have 2 lovely roommates for the summer: Tracy and Didi..i move into the Foster St pad this weekend!

one day of summer school down
lesson #1
asian kids are a lot different than hispanic ones

our first softball game of the season is tonight..i'm quite excited its been way too long since i've played!

grace & peace,
lish

so, many doors have been opening for me and now its the lesson of really trusting and hearing from the Lord. With acceptance to grad school, the Lord has really pressed upon me the need to yet again to wait i'm so eager to go overseas, but He yet again is saying hold on. Going through the process of my application I learned so much, but He's opening other doors for me. Most of my grad school studies will give me ample training, education and experience for being overseas and basically for lack of a better term, "raise me up" to work in a field overseas..and i say overseas to mean in Spain or South American country.

with all that being said, i will NOT be going to conference. My application with Greater Europe Mission has been put on hold, until i get back in touch with them; if the Lord calls me back to them when I'm done with my Master's.

in other news, please be praying for my mom's family..my grandpa and aunt's health are very poor; my mom is under a lot of stress in having to manage them.

grace & peace,
lish

monday was the last day of school for our kids.
i was sad to see them go and even a little bit sad i dont get to be their assistant anymore, or the assistant in the fall...cause my favorite Oscar was a repeat (He isnt old enough to go to kindergarten so he gets to repeat head start).
tomorra is my last day as a substitute, and then the 31st i start as an official assistant for the prek ESL summer school class...and how fun is this?: i get to ride my bike to school, yeah, summer school is held at southwood valley elementary right by my house.

i register for classes next week..over the weekend i have to figure out my concentration-the electives that best help me persue my "career goals"..yeah have to figure those out too. its still pretty crazy to me that in 2 months im going to be moving across the country, going back to school.


i feel preparations for something big in my life coming, something that you could almost call radical. slowly, the Lord has been changing my perspecitve on a whole lot of things...as a book i am reading refers to as a reformission. and even now, with my acceptacne to grad school that these "perspective" changes fall perfectly in with the changes that will come with being in north carolina...kinda giving me an arena to put my thoughts into a reality..not that i cant do that here in college station, tx, but like a im still being molded and taught, again, its all in His timing. There are still issues that i have to deal with in the here and now before i can fully be ready for the future of what He's calling me to, if that makes any sense at all.

[sidenote for valerie: thanks for the encouraging words tonight-especially the past about being friends..right back at ya..and im not saying back because you said it, but i feel the same way friend. you broke my phone record by the way and i cant wait to see you tomorra. be safe driving.]

so, tony comes in to town tonight for our baby sister's graduation on friday...its nuts, i feel really old..and im really excited about graduation for a special reason, but i have to keep it a secret until friday, but ill have pictures posted, no worries :)

thats all i got, nothing too terribly exciting.
24 season finale was quite the cliffhanger...i dont know if ill make it til january ;o) something tells me that jacks gonna survive..i mean didnt he sign on for another 3 seasons?

grace & peace,
lish

the waiting is a little bit over!!!



ive been accepted to the MAIS (Master of Arts in International Studies) program at ECU in greenville, north carolina!

thanks friends for the prayers and encouragement during this waiting/transition time! i'll be sure to keep yall updated.

grace & peace,
lish

the pictures.
we made good time.
we had fun.

1. charlie hall & flying into daybreak
2. chef cao's
3. caleb carruth & darkness falls
4. a clean room and clean clothes
5. jj's sno cones
6. ice skating with 4 yr olds
7. hairbands that stay

so i ran the 2nd annual Maggies/AMC GLOW 5K...so much fun! pics will be posted in the days to come..once i get them.

pandora.com

and no i did not stumble upon this myself..i wish i were that cool.

its been a couple days since my last post. and i cant remember what i said, but again, im gonna talk about my kiddos. being in head start has been wonderful. my class is really great. we did assessments this last week, which was stressful for me cause i was the "teacher" all week (sidenote: i'm so glad that im not a teacher..i know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord is not calling me to teach at the "secondary" level: elementary to highschool). it amazes me the gifts and skills the Lord creates in us. All our kids come from homes where Spanish is their first language, and a handful of them do speak some english in the home, but for the most..its all espanol; so then we test them and half of them test fluent in both english and spanish. you have to understand this is abnormal, to be fluent in both languages at 4, not having "formal" education...yes we do have an academic side to head start, but theres more to it than preparing them for kindergarten.

anyways, their minds are beautiful and daily im blessed to be in the presence of the molding of hearts; through these precious, little humans, created in the image of our God, I hear the Lord saying "this is the faith i'm calling you to have, there is no fear in love Alisha, listen to me because i am in control and I know whats best" so many times im convicted and burdened by the things i teach and tell my kids in class, because those same things have a spiritual application to my life-like the Lord is telling me..listen to yourself...hear me-this "advice and wisdom" youre imparting to them is what i want you to trust and listen to from me.

i wish i could really put to life how much of a joy the South Knoll Bilingual Head Start class has been in my life. i wish you could come see me at work-cause thats the fun of it...its not "work": i get to do what i do best everyday-so that helps me battle all the insecurity and doubt & confusion i've been going through lately; my job affirms the Lord's hand in my life. granted my kids do get on my nerves, they arent these "precious little angels" all the time, but thats where the reality of our flawed world comes in-that we are dirty at the core of it-even at 4.

switching gears, last night was our final night of logos and the Lord truly blessed our time together with wonderful food, fellowship and laughter. for a couple weeks i was MIA here and there, but it was allowed cause Ben was always gone too and he was the leader. anyways, our group was a really random conglomeration of people & i love thats how the Lord works because I would have never had conversations with some of them because they would have never crossed my path. it made me sad that the semester was ending cause i still want to meet every week with them. luckily, lisa will still be here through the summer & beyond since she's taking over lacy's job, so i'm hoping to get some quality time with her.

anyway, today i took a much needed day off from work, and traveled up to btown to see Marissa and get some wisdom from Marcus; and its the first time ive been back since i left. its really affirming to see that my "decision" to step down was the "right" one. Debbie is doing an amazing job with the children's ministry and just the progress and attitude of everything was affirming to see in Marcus's and Chris's lives; so much so that i know i can be a bigger part of their lives than i have been. i kept my distance for awhile-just felt like that is what was needed, but after being here today, i know i can be a present instead of a past..that sounds so cliche & lame, but oh well- i know i am loved and have family here and am in the place to finally receive it again...too much i think im driven by fear-but priase the Lord we are empowered by the Holy Spirit..hope and power are to promises im holding to these days.

grace & peace,
lish