Halloween Memories

Hoorah!  Tonight me and my roommates are having a party! Its a party full of fun times, great food, and awesome friends. I cannot wait! I remember my first Halloween in Providence, living downtown in the freshmen dorm. It was out of control. Since the clubs and bars are all right there, it was a crazy night full of people who feel the urge to wear a little strip of clothing along with a mask and call it a costume. Oh man. And then they get their drink on and hit up the clubs and house parties. Well, let me just say that I dont miss living downtown.
Last night my roommates carved some pumpkins and I roasted the seeds into a tasty treat for this evenning. Im also making my famous hummus and the classic taco dip. Kim is making cupcakes. Elyse is bring the games. Good times for everyone!

I was thinking about Halloween in the past and a few random things came to memory.

Hallelujah Night at the Kenan Center! All the fun of hundreds of kids coming for a safe and exciting night of games and candy, all the booths and the puppet show! What fun!!! That event happened for years and years. And they eventually moved it to the CAWNY building. I dont know if they still have it ever, but it was a definite memory in my head.

Horse-O-Ween at the Rider's farm. When I was in my horse back riding phase, the barn I rode at had a really fun event. Every year you would craft a costume for your favorite horse. One year I dressed up Shortcake, a small black pony, as a lady bug. Another year I dressed up Timber, a beautiful chestnut quarter horse, as a Knight in Shining Armor. Then we would play games and have costume competitions with the horses. My favorite game was "Horse Apple Bobbing." The horses would stick their faces in and try to get apples, and whoever got one the fastest won! Then Mr Rider would start up the tractor and get everyone on for a hayride and a bonfire in the back field. Memories of the brisk air, scent of horse barn, and hot spicy apple cider bring me right back to those fun nights.

I was also thinking of some costumes I have had in the past and I remember all the ridiculous things that me and Kailey did. One year I was Bob the Builder. (I think because my dad had a hard hat). Ive been a pumpkin, a cucumber princess (I wore head to toe green and wore a crown.. I dont know why), a horseback rider, an artist, a princess, the list goes on. Ahhh the memories.

My neighborhood was a prime trick or treating place to be. My sister, the boys down the street, and I would all get together and go around to all the houses. There was the crazy lady at the end of the street who would give away quarters instead of candy. Then you had the family on Nickel St that would give away creepy religious literature. On Ransom Street you had the creepiest house ever and a man would sit on his porch, except he looked really fake, and when you would go up to ring the doorbell he would JUMP up and scare the daylights out of you.

Ive never really seen Halloween as anything other than a fun night with family and friends. Some people take it to extremes- either its the devils night and you have to bunker down and pray against demons- which is a little ridiculous. Or its about gathering as much black and ghoulish things together, or its a huge party and you have to pay a million dollars for a skanky costume and get drunk in order to have fun- which is also a little ridiculous. In my opinion, just relax and have fun. Dont take it to an extreme or apply unecessary meanings to it.


I wish I had pictures from my childhood Halloween celebrations.
Hope you have a good one all!

Death at JWU: Franki Triano

*This is just me being curious and investigative. I possess no power or authority in the situation, nor did I know this person. Just trying to keep people updated. In respect for this whole issue, feel free not to leave any rude comments.*

Self written bio:
"My name is Franki Triano. I am from Kansas City, Missouri. I am 19 years old and a Marketing Major at Johnson and Wales University. I have wonderful parents and two older sisters who have inspired me in too many ways to list. I have a cat named Mojo, a dog named Harley, and a horse named Dash. I like to consider myself a free spirit with ambitious dreams. I might be little but I’m full of energy. I like to have fun and enjoy the life that I’ve been given. I love music, food, friends, family, smiling, laughing, and just being me."


----

You go on this girls facebook page and its so sad. There are more than one hundred comments from friends, relatives, classmates, roommates, etc, dedicated to her.



Thats all I have. I doubt any new information will be made public.
Please keep praying for her family and friends.
& I'm out of this topic.
God Bless.

Death at JWU Providence Update 1

 *This is just me being curious and investigative. I possess no power or authority in the situation. In respect for this whole issue, feel free not to leave any rude comments.*

At this current time I have no more news that what I had last night. There are still alot of rumors going around and it is impossible at this time to reliably figure out anything specific like cause of death or who specifically found her.

I received this email from JWU:
-----------------------------------
To: Providence Campus Community
From: Ronald Martel, Ph.D.
Vice President, Student Affairs

Date: October 28, 2009
Re Bereavement Notice of JWU Student



It is with sadness that I inform you of the sudden passing of Johnson & Wales University student, Franki Triano. Franki, who is from Leawood, Kansas, recently transferred from the Charlotte Campus to Providence as a student in our College of Business.

 I have spoken to her family and have extended the thoughts and prayers of our community.

 For those who need support during this difficult time, campus counseling services are available at
401-598-1016.

At this time, the university does not know the cause of death.
 ---------------------------

I am pretty sure that no one else was in any way injured or hurt. I also know that JWU and Residential Life are doing everything they can to create a peaceful, safe, and healthy environment for students at the Cove, also university wide.  They also took many precautions to protect students from witnessing anything graphic regarding the police investigation.

As I hear new develoments I will be posting them here.

Death at JWU Providence

 *This is just me being curious and investigative. I possess no power or authority in the situation. In respect for this whole issue, feel free not to leave any rude comments.*

Hey all. So quick update. This evenning I found out that a student from the Johnson & Wales University's Providence campus has died unexpectedly tonight. There are alot of rumors going around right now but the actual death has been reported through many trusted sources as being true.

Please pray for the family, as they are still being notified. Also pray for the students roommates.

Im not sure if she lived in the residence hall known as "The Cove" but I know that is where everything went down tonight.  I know that students residing in the Cove have had floor meetings, and that people are not allowed back in for the night if they weren't already there when the incident happened.

In the next 24 hours JWU will be sending out a network wide email with as many details as they deem necessary to share. Just from the people that I have talked to tonight, the whole campus is starting to become quite shaken by the situation.

Pray. and I will keep updating as I find out news.

Revelations and Sun "Rise"

This weekend, I attended a Christian collegiate conference in Hull, Massachussetts. It was a splended time with my group and with many other college groups. Here is a picture of the Johnson & Wales Christian Student Fellowship:

There were some great speakers and had alot of fun bonding with each other.  We always make an effort to be friendly and introduce ourselves to new people. A bunch of others joined in and we made alot of new friends, hopefully we will be able to stay in touch through the year.

Every year, (starting last year haha), I make an effort to come out onto the beach one morning and watch the sun rise. Usually no one really comes with me, but this year I made sure to let everyone know and encourage people to come. So Sunday morning I woke up around 6am and came out to see the 6:24 rise. Surprisingly, about 7 other people joined in. The pictures above are my awesome friends who woke up at the crack of dawn to come to the cold beach with me. Kim, Elyse, Hannah, Michelle, Corey, Sandra, Katherine! BUT- This year there was an epic storm the night before and the clouds hadnt moved away yet. So there was no sunrise to be seen. Quite sad actually. It was cloudy and dim, but it was still beautiful, and we told God that next year He should be nice to us and bring up the most glorious sun rise EVER!

Alon, Kim, and I= My fabulous roommates. I love them!

This weekend I learned a few surprising things. The main topic of the conference was "The Sufficiency of the Word," and it was quite interesting. But for some reason, I always tend to catch smaller points and get the most from those. One of the speakers was talking about being a Paul and being a Timothy. The idea is that they kind of needed each other to grow through a discipleship relationship. He encouraged all the "Timothys" to find "Pauls" and all the "Pauls" to find "Timothys" and just pour into each other. Pray with each other, give each other books to read, go through the bible with each other, challenge one another with personal struggles. I can think of all the people who have impacted me in this kind of personal one on one mentor kind of way- Jen and Craig Campbell, Pastor Tim, Mrs Watkins, Mrs Attfield, Mrs McDonald, Andy and Amy Haynes, Kevin and Melissa Mckay, Karissa Tolli, etc etc it could go on and on. I know that if these people had not been in my life, constantly spurring me to pursue the truth and holiness, who knows where I would be. I think a new goal for this year is to find some Timothys and just start encouraging them to take their faith to a deeper level.

Another thing that I gained as a result of this conference was some new friends. Because of this, I randomly stumbled upon an interesting note on facebook from someone that I dont know, but it really spoke to my life.

Without copying and pasting exactly, it goes a little something like this: Girl gets something she really wants. Girl puts all her energy and focus into pursuing and holding onto that thing that she wants. She takes her focus off of God and His blessings and constantly focuses on the blessing day and night. All the time previously spent on knowing God and hearing from Him is now spent waiting around and trying to get to know her blessing.

The note then goes on to say something like this:

"God has the power to show you who God is.
And this is God showing me who God is.
He's a jealous God. He doesn't like someone else becoming number one in my heart."

And for some reason I really relate to this. I lost focus on what was really important and I was dwelling on something secondary and the more I thought I was going to loose it, the tighter I gripped. But you cant hoard things in the Kingdom of God, especially if they become what your mind obsesses over and practically worships. God is not pleased when that happens and He will not let it happen for too long before He sends you on your way, empty handed and into the land of "Hey why dont you remember who gave you this gift in the first place and worship me."

 I think thats where Ive been for a few months now. In that crazy land of emptiness and realization that I have to repent of my idoltry and make God totally number one again. Even if it was just a sidetrack for a minute or an hour it doesnt matter. ANYTHING "good" or "bad" thats unchecked that takes God's place in your heart for more than a second is an idol. I think God has brought me a long way since entering this land. He has allowed me to realize what happened and that I need to turn my eyes back to Him. After this weekend and all the thinking I did, I think Im finally seeing the end of this empty and alone season and the beginning of a new refreshing one where God is the center, my portion, my rock, my sword, my shield.



Hope that all made sense.
Time to pack up and go home.
-Alissa

New England Collegiate Fusion 09 this weekend

I will be packing up and going up to Hull Massachussetts this weekend for the anual collegiate christian fellowship conference. Many students from all over New England and some Canada come for this event and it is a great way to make friends and meet new people. Also the theme for the weekend is "Supremacy of the Word" which will be a great word to hear. Last year was a great time and I have so many amazing memories.

The hotel is located right across from an Atlantic Ocean beach front area and about an hour east from Boston. I cant wait.

Right now I have to do some last minute Russian homework and pack alot more. Leave it to me to wait until the absolute last minute to do laundry. Heh.

Anywhoo. see ya on the flipside.
-Alissa

Signed Sealed Delivered!

Oh My Goodness!

I have been on major lockdown trying to finish the application for my Co-Op that is due October 28th.
I had 9 essays due for the International Missions Board and one 3 page paper due for Johnson and Wales.

BUT TONIGHT I AM DONE!
Praise God. The burden is lifted. After 34566 revisions of each essay and tweaking each word into perfection, my brain can finally find rest in normal activity, knowing that nothing else can be done for now.

I dont want to write for a while.
Peace out everyone for a minute.
Life is good.

Quick and Cheap Cous Cous

Ok yall. Im back with a better recipe than ever before. I got this recipe from a variation of a meal I had with my friend Matt. I dont know if it has a name other than "freaking delicious."

Ingredients:
1 cup dry cous cous                     $0.50
1 (14oz) can of diced tomatoes    $1.00
1 cup of water                             Free
2 tblspoons of butter                    $0.20

In a medium sized sauce pan, bring 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of butter to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1 cup of cous cous, stirring well. Let sit for 5 minutes, covered.
After 5 minutes, fluff with a fork and mix in 1 can of diced tomatoes.

 So this meal all together costs about $1.70. If used in main course portions, you can get 3 servings. If used as a side dish about 4 servings. That means that if you eat this as a main dish, its less than $0.60 for a meal. You can use whatever brands you have available to you, but I use whole grain couscous from Trader Joes and Del Monte Tomatoes Diced with Basil, Garlic & Oregano from your local super market. I take this to work sometimes as is, just heat up in the micro. Its delicious, cheap, and absolutely a great idea!

Variations:
-Use fresh tomatoes, chop up fresh basil

Language Swap

Ahh what a week. Everything is going great. I am ridiculously busy every single day, but its the kind of thing where I choose what to be busy with. I am not doing anything that I dont want to be doing, and thats how I like to roll. Of course today wasnt busy at all. Last night Kim and I stayed up until 3am watching Top Chef episodes. And I slept until 3 this afternoon. What a delight. I figure I dont sleep AT ALL during the week so I might as well make it up on the weekends. Today has just been relaxing and fun. My baking savvy roommates made and decorated a cake for our friends who are leaving town, and they are ridiculously talented. I could make a cake, but it would look like someones kindergarten brother made it and not be fancy at all. Im more utilitarian.

Yesterday was my 4th Russian class and needless to say, my teacher thinks I am doing pretty good, but still need to try harder. So Im trying. and trying. and trying. At this point I could say that I could read pretty much anything in Russian, although I just wouldnt know what it meant. My teacher is this ESL grad student who is from Kazakastan or something. He is pretty smart and very patient with me.

This past Thursday I went to an international coffee house sponsored by the JWU i-club. Essentially it is a coffee house for international and american students to come, mingle, and improve their language skills. We had a little group activity that helped us to meet new people, and it was really fun. I met people from Cyprus, China, Taiwan, and Korea! I became friends with this girl named Yuli from Taiwan, and we are going to try to hang out soon. Needless to say, I am going back every week. The only sad thing about international students, especially from the Asia region, most of them are forced by their parents to study abroad. Thats terrible, but you can tell many just try to make the best of everything.

After work I went to Starbucks to meet up with my conversation partner, Mohamed. He is from Mali, Africa and has only been in the United States for 4 months. Prior to coming to this country, he has never spoken or learned English. That is intense, and I hope I can be of some help to him. He said that it is very difficult to do things here because many people cannot understand him. Overall he enjoys Providence and JWU though. I hope to start meeting with him weekly. Its important for international students to interact with native English speakers, as it gives them a context to practice their language skills, and makes them feel less lonely.

I wish everyone had the opportunity to build relationships with ESL students. I am so thankful to know them. It all started with Sung and Esther. I miss them.

New York New York

Well HOWDY!

New York City was such a delightful time and I enjoyed every second that I got to spend with Kailey! We did some random things, but we accomplished our life goal of seeing Balto face to face. We just sat in awe for minutes, remembering his true heroism and how we always wanted to be sick kids in Nome so that Balto could bring us medicine.

We also bartered in China town, wandered through Korea town, went to a coooooool Art Shop called Lees Art Shop, Times Square of course, and hung out around the NYSUM building in Queens. Hooray.

In China town Kailey and I saw a bag that we both really liked, in diffeent colors of course. So we searched and searched, most were charging $35 for it. I think its still expensive, so I told this chinese lady

Me "I saw it over there for $25!" 

Her: "Ya because its cheap crap"

Me: "But I like cheap crap!"

Her: "Ok, $30, just for you."

Me: "Nope, $25."

Her: (in the most dramatic possible way) "Oh My Goddddd!"

And I walked away. hahaha.

On my trip back, I took a bus from NYC to Boston, arriving in Boston around 2am. My goal was to hang out in the train station until my train came that morning for Providence. WELLLLLLL. Let me tell you. I got there and the train station was closed. This was in the Copley/Back Bay area of Boston, and there was NOTHING openned at all. No Starbucks, no 7/11, no little shops, no 24 hour mall. GRR. So I hung out in a park with some hobos. All night. I saw one of the urinated behind a brick wall. That was a delight. There was also a hobo fight. And then a mobile food pantry came by for a quick second and gave them soup or something. I think thats what they were fighting about. Dear Lord. I feel bad for hobos but it makes me wonder even more how they aren't inspired to do something with their lives. I mean its freezing at night sleeping on the ground, its dirty, there is no where to shower, no legit food, nothing to drink, other hobos want to fight you. How can someone be satisfied with that? I dont get it. I just know that I will never be a hobo. I couldnt handle it for those 4.5 hours. Intense.

So I made it home.

Good times for all=)

Going to New York City

Hey y'all!

I leave in less than 12 hours to go to New York City to visit with Kailey while she is at NYSUM!  I ended up finding out that another friend, Casey, will be in NYC at the same time with her family, so I will be hanging out with her Sunday night, then staying with my friend Gabby in her room at FIT overnight, and then hanging out with Kailey all day Monday.

Hooray!
I will be back in Providence sometime Tuesday morning.
Hopefully!
Later!

Hey Ya'll.. Big changes around the corner

So. Whatsup? Man, its been another busy week around here. I just cant keep everything straight! Whoa! So Im not going to lie, its been pretty rough in general this week. So many things that were getting me down, stress because of projects assigned last minute, no sleep, and some attitudes I had towards certain people or events that were terrible.

Ugh.
BUTTTTT->  I have deicded something. As of right now. Seeing as I have felt like crap lately, I am going to do something about it. Aka: Make some life changes. Ive already implemented some of these into place, but officially they will all be implemented starting today.

• Read my bible at work instead of surf the web
• Always be in the process of reading one nonfiction book. (currently working on: "On being a Missionary" by Thomas Hale)
• Get CSF leadership book chapters read before Thursday. ("Knowing God" by J.I. Packer)

• Get atleast 7-9 hours of sleep per night. (This is going to be tricky. Anything that doesnt get done that night CAN wait until the next day. Life goes on)

• Cut down on carbs. including breads, pastas, wraps, crackers. (this might not be too tough, but since Ive been a convenience eater lately, crackers and sandwhiches have been around alot. NOT ANY MORE.)
• Increase veggie consumption. Pause, can I just say that if there is an opposite to scurvy, then I have it. I have eaten sooo many clementines and carrots lately its ridiculous. So in saying this, I just want to figure out how to get more veggies into my diet.
• Drink 8 cups of water everyday. No soda. No juice. Yes to Coffee/tea. (since I left my favorite water bottle in DC I have epically failed at this recently. Ugh. I will start back up. No joke.)

• Exercise 3-4 times a week. (I dont know if that sounds measely, but if you have school, work and clubs from am - pm then you can imagine my plunder when trying to find time.) I will be participating in the Cool Runnings Couch-to-5K Running Plan. It is a 9 week plan to end up running three miles at a time. I like it because it is 3 times a week, and works your way up. So its not like ok this week walk one mile, next week run 5 miles. Lets see how it goes. haha.

AND that is my story for today. Feel free to keep me accountable. Ahh. Off to work work work. Later.