Manna from Heaven

Yesterday, as we were gathering at the duplex to put the finishing touches on our halloween costumes for last nights campus ministry party we all began to talk about what to eat. We were VERY hungry; it was about 2 in the afternoon and no one had eatten yet for the day! There was not much at the house to munch on let alone make a meal. We were standing out on the porch when a car drove by, one girl jumped out with TWO Papa John's Pizzas and asked if we wanted them. They were left over from UD atheletics. . . OF COURSE we wanted them! Never doubt, God ALWAYS provides!

15 Passenger Van . . . What's the Big Deal?

Tonight was my first experience being responsible for driving a 15 passenger van and it's occupants! It went well. I suppose when you learn on a conversion van you really are prepared for anything!

Our excursion tonight was the largest Corn Maze EVER! It takes the average person an hour and a half to finish!!! Many of the students finished but the three of us campus ministers gave in and just walked around. You might be thinking we are wimps . . . but think again my friend! Check out this INSANE Corn Maze! There are 12 sections, each section contains a mailbox that contains a piece of the map! After finding all 12 clues you can complete the maze! I was cold and my allergies or possibly the start of a cold is kicking my butt. Nonetheless, completing it or not, it was still fun.

There was also a quite interesting maze. You can ONLY turn right! It's a NO LEFT TURN maze. It was hard but very, very fun! And YES I completed this one!

So driving the van was fine! Parked it back in its spot using one back up! No different than the Marshmellow (Daddy's van) or Mommy's truck! The 15 passenger van is no match for me!

A Photo Tour of Dayton

So, I have finally loaded pictures to give you all a photo tour of the University of Dayton! Welcome to my tour!

The Main Entrance to the University

Stuart Hall and Stuart Hill, my home at UD

Stuart Hill . . . from the bottom! Yes, Stuart Hall is at the top!

My Bedroom

The other half of my bedroom

My living room, remember this was in the process of moving in! Since then this has become my kitchen! So I guess it's a very mobil room!

My HUGE bathroom! Unfortunatly no bathtub:(

The infamous Neighborhood!

Stuart Hill overlooking the field

Serenity Pines, one of my favorite places on campus!

Another favorite spot! This is a statue of the Blessed mother in her old age.

Humanities Building, where all my classes take place!

Inside of Chapel

Thanks for coming! I hope you've enjoyed my tour of The University of Dayton!

A Heartfealt Moment

Many of you know that Jason was deployed on Tuesday for six months. I had been asking for prayers for him for a while now. All day Tuesday people had been sharing with me that my brother and my family were in prayer. Well, that night I was running around trying to get things together for Mass and one of the GA's walks into chapel. She looked very flustered so I asked if she was okay and she said yeah, I was surprised to see her and thought she just decided to come to Mass. This was rare that another GA would make their way up Stuart Hill to come to Mass but Christy is very devoted to daily Mass and I simply assumed she missed the noon Mass. So we both sat down, Mass was getting ready to begin and in walks three more GA's. I knew something was up at this point. I looked at Christy and said, "what's going on?" She said I had to ask Melissa. At this point Mass was ready to begin, I knew why they were here, they were here because they knew my brother was deployed and they wanted to pray with me to support me! During the intercessions Melissa prayed, "Father, please watch over and protect all those who are in the military especially those who have been deployed this day. And bring peace to their families, letting them know that they have a community around them that love and support them." I broke out in tears. This was a defining moment here in Dayton. I knew at that point that I had a group of friends around me that really do love and support me. I can't say thanks enough to Melissa, Christy, Abby, and Katie. Later I found out that the reason they all looked flustered is because they were running late so they are RAN to get to Mass. That makes it that much more special! They are great, not only making their way up the hill but running? That's special!

Back Me Up East-Coasters

I never considered myself much of an “east-coaster.” I mean, yes geographically that is what one would call me, but personality wise I always considered myself above the east-coast stereotype of living an uptight, unfriendly, rushed sort of existence. In fact the majority of my circle of family and friends would not comply with this definition. BUT there are some things that make my east-coast origin stick out like a sore thumb and I cannot deny the fact of where my allegiance lays.

A coke is a “soda” not “pop.” The beach is WAY BETTER than the Lakes, I don’t care if you put the adjective “Great” in front of them, they are still nothing more than bodies of water surrounded by land. The ocean on the other hand is a massive body of water, encompassing a HUGE percentage of the Earth that offers more exploration, fun and adventure than a lake could EVER offer! Come on, who’s ever heard of snorkeling in a lake? The big complaint is that the ocean is “too salty.” Okay, people suck it up! Swallowing a mouth full of salt water is an initiation right in most families I know! A large sandwich on an Italian roll is a “Hoagie” not a “sub” and the only way to get it is at Wawa! AND NO, “Wawa” is not a baby word, it is the name of the happiest place on Earth. Mid-westerners seem to think that’s Disney world . . . but east-coasters know different! And finally, Mr. Herr, could you please introduce your product to the rest of the world . . . what’s this “Lays” business . . . I want my Honey BBQ Chips!

I’m really having a great time, don’t get me wrong with this posting. It’s just . . . well I had to get some things off my back! In fact when I’m home for break I fully intend on having a SODA and HOAGIE from WAWA!!!

Shout Out to My Girls!

I'm sending out a special thank you to two of my favorite girls in all the world! Livvy and Lexi, you girls ROCK my world! To fill the rest of you in, Livvy and Lexi are two of my best friends that I babysit for. They sent me a package of the coolest stuff EVER! I have had a pretty trying week, there were more tears shed, but they made my week!!! Thanks to them next time I get stressed I can color in my HUGE Strawberry Shortcake coloring book, with my new crayons and markers! (By the way girls, did you know that Strawberry Shortcake was my favorite? Cause she is!) I also found Hershey Kisses, Pixy Stix, TastyKakes, PINK slippers, a Magic Eight Ball (this will come in handy in my theology class . . . we just read about Divine Revelation. . . I'll just ask God to speak to me through the Magic Eight Ball), I also got cards and a journal. . . AND the BEST by far was the picture they drew for me! So Livvy and Lexi I heard you read my blog! So this one's for you (and of course Mommy and Dadddy for all their help!) THANKS!!!!

What's That Smell?!

Okay, so it is probably no big surprise to most of you who know me fairly well, but I am not exactly the neatest person in the world! In fact I just recently discovered the rug in my bedroom is pink, and that is only after being told I was not allowed to move out until my room was clean! So the past couple days whenever I would be laying in bed or around my bed I would smell this God awful smell. A week ago it was just faint, I thought it was the spoon of old peanut butter I had left on my windowsill . . . woops. . . but after finally cleaning that I realized the smell was not gone. So then I began to think it was my sheets. . . having to pay for my laundry now I just don't do sheets that often . . . or at least I haven't yet. . . but after a close nose inspection that did not seem to be the problem. I then thought. . .well is it me? I quickly threw that idea out the window. . .I mean, I shower everyday! Well this morning I finally discovered it! As you may have read I went to a park a couple weekends ago. . . I would have lied and said last weekend but you can all read my blog and would have quickly discovered I was lying. . . I will just be honest, it was week"s" ago! I had packed a lunch. . .do you see where this is going? I only ate half my sandwich. . . the other half? You guessed it! I found it this morning under my bed in my backpack that I had taken to the park! EEEWWW! I didn't even open the bag to realize it stunk like the dead! You will be glad to know my room no longer has the hint of dead carcus anymore. I discarded the problem, sprayed some febreeze and now . . . UMMM Good as new!! Febreeze is the answer to my prayers! Thanks Procter and Gamble!

Biblical Criticism Too Good Not to Share

We all think we understand the story of creation right? I thought I did! But then someone comes along and shares a perspective with you that blows your mind. That happened to me this week in my scripture class when my Professor introduced us to the biblical criticism of Phyllis Trible.

This is just one’s interpretation of the creation story but it is an intriguing one that I thought was well worth sharing! Trible argues that one must be careful with the language one uses to read the bible. Specifically she speaks about creation. She suggests that there is a play on words that is going on that because of problematic translations has been lost. ADAMAH in Hebrew means Earth, HA’ADAM means the Earth Creature, essentially this is an androgynous being. Not totally in our understanding of the word today but in a sense that one side was completely male and one side completely female but she does not use the word hermaphrodite because she claims it was not a combination of the two sexes it was completely both sexes.

In Genesis 2:22b God made “woman” ISHSHAH AND “man” ISH. Before this point sexuality was non-existent! That means “man” was not created first, but both were created at the same point in time. What we usually perceive as the creation of “woman” is truly the separation of man and woman from the original “Earth Creature” into two separate beings.

In essence EVERYTHING was “shared” by the two beings.

Another point of contention that Trible uses to support her theory is in the adjective used upon creation of the female being, ETZER. This word in Hebrew stands for both superior AND helper. The two translations would look as so: 1) God made man a helper or 2) God made man superior. Helper would imply equal partnership! Trible argues that “helper” is the more truthful translation. She goes on to support this concept with her conclusion that Song of Songs is the rest of the story of creation. The couple shares everything as the couple in Genesis and thus this is the completion and redemption of the fall in the creation story in Genesis.

As further support my professor personally added that there is a myth that exists in Greek mythology where by Zeus “separates” the one “creature” into two and thus they spend their entire lives trying to reunite, intimately with each other.

Beer Pong

My sister will be so proud of me when she hears that this weekend I learned how to, AND DID play beer pong! She will be quickly disappointed when she realizes that I played with WATER! The original plan was to go to the Italian Festival (which we did) and then go out dancing (which we did not!) Unfortunately, although Dayton is a city, it is not known for its night life! Finding a non-skanky place to dance proved impossible and in a state of surrender we retreated to the house for the usual night at the University of Dayton. This was where some of the other GA's had the brilliant idea to play beer pong. . . I told them I don't play drinking games because I'd be in the hospital after round one, they quickly said, "play with water!" So I did! Plus, I don't really think you can call what we did a "drinking" game. Where as there was drinking involved it was about the equivalent of a beer each by the time the game ended. Really the "pong" was more fun than the "beer."

Trash Trucks Threatening My Sanity!

I always considered myself a pretty deep sleeper. Whenever there would be a thunder and lightning storm that most are awoken by I wake in the morning, peering out the window, commenting, "did it rain last night?" But the truth is coming out! I am a sound "country" sleeper; you put me in a city and it's a different story!!

Here's the dilemmia, the dumpters are right outside my window. Here in Dayton apparently it is customary to collect trash in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! I'm NOT kidding, midnight, 3 am, 6 am. I could deal with the midnight and 6 am. . . but the ones that occur between those hours make me insane!

The trucks come and it is like I am under attack! The lights, the beeping, the roar of the engines, and lets not forget when the dumpters are lifted they go right by my second story window!

I don't run on much sleep these days. . . for example I fell asleep around 2 last night, and awoke at 6 with the trucks . . . Solution? Don't have one yet. I've attempted to sleep in the other room I have which is further from the window and separated by another wall, but this placed me closer to the constant shreking of the freshmen girls running up and down the hallway, ALSO at all hours of the night! My next attempt is going to be ear plugs. . . I'm afraid that this will make it hard to hear an alarm in the morning so I may have to get use to sleeping with my cell phone alarm on vibrate and straped to my arm or leg or something.

For now, signing off, sleep deprived ready to face another long day with a TON of work to do! Systematic Theology is ironically my favorite class, Scripture is very interesting, but Church History sucks! Can't God just divinely fill me in!?

Freeing Myself

First of all, some have complained that my blog was "hard to read" due to the dark background. So for you, I have changed it. Let me know what you think.

Today is an exciting day. Although I have a lot to read I'm doing some much needed "fun things" with my day. In about an hour some of the GA's are picking me up and we are heading to the farmers market where we are going to have what I am told is the "most amazing breakfast EVER!"

Tonight we are heading down to Cincinnati, a city I've never been to, to go to a big band festival. I am very excited, mostly at the chance of getting OFF CAMPUS! Especially on a weekend where EVERYONE seems to have gone home for the weekend to be with there family. I have to admit it was quite depressing when I was waiting for a friend to pick me up yesterday and all these parents came to take their children for the weekend. . . and mine weren't. This is one of the challenges of the distance for me!

But besides that I am still doing VERY well, classes are interested. . . difficult but doable! In fact I have to give a five minute presentation (if you even want to call it that!) on a feminist theologian. I have to supply the class with her background and what she is currently doing with her life. . . I couldn't find any information on her other than her mini bio from the University website where she currently teaches. This also provided me with her email address, so yes, you guessed it I emailed her! It was great, she gave me all the info I needed plus some fun stuff! Can't wait for class.

Okay, as I've said, I'm getting off campus today, less than an hour now and I need a shower. . . hope you all are well! Love you all! Miss you all!

A Muddy Story

So, a quick, hilarious (in hindsight) story: I was biking down to KU (Kennedy Student Union) to attend the drivers education seminar to be certified to drive the University vans. Not totally understanding the landscape yet here I decided to take a short cut through a field to avoid the population of students just getting out of class. Coming down the hill I had gained quite a speed by the time I hit the field and was unable to slow down when I realized it was wet. Water began to kick up on my back, before I could do anything about it I hit a HUGE muddy SWAMP! No one told me that the KU field turned into a muddy marsh after a rain! My bike sunk in, I was unable to pedal, I was covered head to toe in mud! I had to step off my bike, when I did so I sunk ankle deep in mud. Now, remember I’m on my way to a seminar that I have to attend “professionally” to drive the University vehicles. I walk in covered in specks of mud, walking barefoot holding my flip fops that are drenched in mud. I kindly ask the woman if I have time to use the bathroom before the seminar begins. She THANKFULLY, or maybe sympathetically said yes! Let’s just say I just took my SECOND shower of the day and now I’m getting ready for class! You bet I WON’T be taking the short cut to class tonight!

Stuart Hall Community

If I’ve not shared previously a small fact about my living conditions then here it is now. My residence hall is the furthest hall from the center of campus and located on a hill that my New Jersian friend Andrea would call a mountain! When my parents came to visit me my first weekend here they kindly brought me my bike, which has come in handy many days. It makes getting to campus/class/campus ministry as quick as a minute compared to the ten it would take me to walk. Unfortunately God will not answer my prayers to have the earth tilt further on it’s axis when it’s time to return up the mountain! Ultimately however, my legs are looking good!

Because of this fact, the Stuart Hall community is by far the best community on campus. This is because once here, no one wants to leave and no one wants to come! BT (Brother Tom), Jim (another GA) and myself took a group hiking on Sunday. We had a great time! Unfortunately it rained the entire time and we came home soaking wet! But it was a blast! The trip really helped to start forming the core group of students in my hall that will be getting involved in campus ministry! This excites me! We even have a substantial group of guys, which I’m learning from past experience and now that every campus ministry has a problem attaining! One of the guys on the trip had the entire van singing Billy Joel’s Piano Man to the karaoke he had on his cell phone!

The down side to the hike in the rain was that Monday meant I was in bed most of the day not feeling so hot. I don’t know if it was allergies or the start of a cold, but I pumped myself up with vitamins and chilled for the day and now am feeling significantly better!

BT has asked me to go to Kentucky with him and a group of students for the weekend. . . I’ve not decided yet if I will be going. It depends on class this evening! He is taking a group down to experience the people and location of the UDSAP (University of Dayton Service Appalacian Project) that runs in the summertime from Dayton. It would be a wonderful experience but I have to weigh a couple things before I completely decide what to do with my weekend!

A Culture of College or a Culture of Alcoholism?

I have spoken to some of you about the culture that this university puts forth. For those of you who have not heard, the University of Dayton is not a dry campus and therefore has many problems concerning underage drinking as well as over drinking. Although I have not been challenged in too many ways upon moving, this is indeed a major way I have been!

The very first night the freshmen were on campus there were three hospitalizations due to alcohol poisoning, one student ended up on a ventilator. I do not know the out come of that particular situation, unfortunately having students in the hospital is not that rare of a thing here.

My first weekend on campus threw me into culture shock. The student neighborhood was literally a scene from Hollywood! Seriously! I thought this stuff only happened in movies and maybe that shows my naivety but nonetheless it was a different world to me. My fellow graduate assistants have their ways of dealing with the situation. One young woman sits on the front porch of the duplex—this is where the none residence life campus ministers live, and as a general rule is our place to hang out—and exclaims, “We’re the modesty club, we’ve got you covered!” She wants to hand out t-shirts to poorly dressed girls. Another strikes up conversations ending in, “Well, you have a great night, enjoy yourself, MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!” To say the least I definitely fit in with my fellow GA’s!

It’s strange how accustom I have become in these past couple of weekends with the party atmosphere here. Thousands of students filling the streets on the weekend, police patrolling with a blind eye to the majority of stuff that goes on and walks to my room at night dodging drunken students.

The redeeming quality this university has over West Chester is the number of smokers! I felt like I was constantly inhaling second hand smoke everywhere I went on campus but here I rarely see it! It may be small but it is a redeemable quality for the university in my mind!
Plus, the campus ministry ROCKS!

Back to School

The start of classes went relatively smoothly. I am taking three courses this semester, all foundations courses to put everyone on the same level to continue our education in the religious studies department. This is a little nerve racking considering half of my class has an undergraduate degree in theology and I've never step foot in a theology classroom before this past Monday. . . But as the professors keep reiterating, that is why they have these courses.

Although I almost lost it yesterday after class, I was able to hold it together and have successfully gotten through my first week of class with NO TEARS! Daddy aren't you so proud. I have to say I was feeling great on Tuesday night, then I had Church History. . . Ugh! We went through history from Resurrection to the 20th century in a two hour session, no break! Of course I understood NOTHING as he whizzed his way through time . . . Thankfully he was just quickly flying through what we will be delving into all semester! I wanted to cry, but I didn't! I reminded myself that it's going to take time but I'll be okay!

As for the actual workload, I was quite surprised with it. People have been doing nothing but filling us with fright since day one about how much work we were going to be doing. . . Honestly it's not that bad! I kept telling people that the reading will not be too difficult for me because my undergrad was in Literature and I was quite use to reading, especially after my hellish semester in 20th century Native American Literature where we read a novel a week. The one thing that frustrates me is everyone's reaction to this statement. They usually start off with a chuckle and then tell me how reading theology is a bit different then reading stories. FIRST OF ALL THEY ARE NOT "STORIES" THEY ARE LITERATURE!!! Second of all being an English major consists of more than just reading Huckleberry Finn! In fact if I remember correctly there is an entire semester devoted to learning how to read and understand literary theory. One would just about be ready to give credit to Mark Twain for his work then comes along Michael Foucault who questions the validity of any work being solely produced by the author. In his essay What is an Author one learns that there is more to a text then the author, there is historical context and cultural context and more to be considered.

Okay, I will stop ranting about literary theory . . . I have to say that there is a small void in my life where I use to spend my days in West Chester discussing these topics. . . But soon I will be delving deeper into the world of theology and that will soon fill that gap in my heart! aaahhh.

In conclusion . . . Things are continuing well here in the great state Ohio!

The Art of Corn Hole

So, here's the deal. There's this game here in the Midwest called Corn Hole, if you know how to play you are an automatic member of the "in" crowd. If you're GOOD at it you automatically become royalty! I am somewhere between court jester and having relations with the prince. In other words I'm not terrible but I'm by no means a master!

How do you play, you ask. Well, it's actually quite simple. You have two roughly three by one and a half foot boards each with a five inch in diameter hole at the top. The boards have a stand that puts them at a small incline from the ground up to the hole. The boards are placed at about thirty feet from each other. Two teams battle it out to see who can get to 21 points first. You gain points by tossing bean bags . . . Each team member on her/his turn tosses four . . . Landing on the board gains you one point, landing in the hole gains you three. If you both score points you cancel each other out and only add points if one team has more.

Yes, it is a glorified bean bag toss! BUT, let me warn you--they take this game VERY seriously here in Ohio! Don't ever be caught mocking Corn Hole or you will surely have an angry mob of Ohioans chasing you down, pelting you with bean bags!

Actually in all seriousness, it really makes for a fun Saturday night!

Transitions . . .

So I've decided as much as I did not want to jump on the blogging band wagon, it was simply a more efficient means of communication. I feel very special that so many people have been emailing me asking how I've been doing and sending their prayers my way! I really appreciate all the love and support every one of you has given me.

Moving 500 miles from home is hard. Things I miss most from home--1) Sunday breakfasts prepared by Daddy. 2) Movie nights with Mommy. 3) Poker tournaments with the gang. 4) My pillow top mattress! 5) Daily Mass at the Newman Center. 6) Regina's smile. 7) The prayer meeting. 8) The proximity to Atlantic City. 9) Quiet. 10) AND Wawa!

Although I have attempted very hard to make my small suite my home away from home my mother is right when she says it will never be home. However, things are going really well despite these voids in my days. I am really beginning to know my way around Dayton and have ventured out on my own a couple times without getting lost! I have gone on two days of service so far which have offered me the chance to see neighboring areas of Dayton. One of these places is Yellow Springs, a small hippie town where on a Friday morning you can surprisingly see many people just out for a walk. I also did a day of service with a group of mentally challenged adults. We helped run a BBQ/picnic. . . We played many games like Corn Hole (I'll be talking about this later . . . ), and had great conversations. My favorite was an elderly man who approached me and said, "Hi, I'm doctor looovvee, I NEVER lost a patient." HA! He was great!

In addition to these days I have spent much time on campus getting ready for the first year students to move in. Move in day was hectic but I have to say Dayton has it down pretty good when it comes to moving in thousands of students in an eight hour period! You'd be impressed! That first day Brother Tom, who goes by BT, and I went around to all 18 floor meetings to introduce ourselves and say a little about campus ministry at the University of Dayton. It was, to say the least, an exhausting night!

I really felt like a part of the team last week, I volunteered to prepare a prayer for a dinner we were invited to where there would be about 200 people. This means I got to pray on a microphone, they wanted to tell me this to make sure I really wanted to do it. . . oh they have so much to learn, a microphone just excites me more!! They were all very "impressed" with my prayer and said that it was "perfect." This made my day!!! I really felt like I contributed to something here.

Oh, just thought of another thing I truly miss from home . . . The washer and dryer!!! It cost me $4 over the weekend to do my stupid laundry . . . ugh!

So, things are really going very well! Again thank you all for your love and support!

Moving to Ohio . . .

Welcome to Ohio, so many things to discover!