Breathing Hope!

This year the holiday season has been a bit more special to me. Since I have been away at school the holidays give me time to be with my family, friends, and time to relax (something we all know I don't do to well heheh). My last post was at the beginning of finals week, well I survived my first finals week of my college career. While at times it was stressful and seemed impossible to study any more flash cards or read anymore pages in text books it was a learning experience, one that taught me to shut down my computer and go back to old fashion pen and paper. For me having a computer in front of me means, facebook, twitter, pintrest, and multiple other social Media sites are just a click away and I tend to be easily distracted by these sites and the "excuse" they give me not to study. So maybe technology isn't always good, although I find more good uses for it then bad!! Well back to Christmas, as I sit here and write on the sofa in the family room my dog is snuggle...

This week is finals week at LVC, therefor meaning most of us are sleep deprived, hungry, and overall in just about the worst moods we have all be in all semester. I must say this being my first experience of college "hell week" actually hasn't been to incredibly bad. I lucked out with my finals schedule and only have 2 finals and a paper to write before concluding my first semester, which I am concluding a few days before most. I must say although the tests aren't causing the normal unbearable stress that requires super powers to get through I am ready for the semester to be over. Its time, I am ready to enjoy home and family for 5 weeks and not have to worry about writing a paper, lesson plan, or studying for a test. Looking back at my first semester here at LVC I must say its been great!! I now have a second "home", with loving a friends and a comfortable community atmosphere. When I first set foot on campus on August 19th I came in with no friends, un...

My thanksgiving was an eventful one as always, surrounded by the people that are most important to me.  I started the day off with some of my best friends at the Pennridge/Quakertown football game which is a traditional thanksgiving day football game between 2 rival high schools that has been played for the last 80 some years. Being a Pennridge alum of course I was sitting on the green and whites side cheering the team on with the marching band that I was a part of during high school. It was great to see some of my friends that are still in high school and part of the marching band as well as a Pennridge win! After the game I went to my families traditional thanksgiving dinner at my grandmothers. It was fantastic as always with food coming out of every corner of my grandmothers house. After we were finished eating and catching up with family it was time to attend the other side of the families thanksgiving where we also caught up with family and shared in some ...

  I can't believe yet another week has pasted, the weeks seem to moving so quickly! Once again my week has been filled with a little bit of everything! Wednesday was crazy as always, but it's my favorite day of the week! This Wednesday was even more hectic then normal. I had my classes, gave a tour of campus to prospective students parents and then left to go to my preschool classroom for my field experience. This week the kids were especially energetic! They seemed to be jumping off the walls all day long, but as always they were warm and loving. The preschoolers I work with are so adorable, rather intelligent, and are full of life. They help me to stay grounded and love the simple things in my life. Their innocents and warm love for everyone puts a smile on my face. This week we were learning about thanksgiving and talking about what we are thankful for in our lives. Some of the answers that came out of 4 year olds mouths were incredible! They are who the rest of us sho...

  Once again, I have failed to write for almost a week, I keep promising to get better, I'm not going to promise that today but I am going to challenge myself to write alittle more often. This week has been a crazy week let me tell you!! But we are coming up on Thanksgiving which is always a welcome break and a time to reflect. Well more on that later time to get to a few facts about Alpha-1, I believe I owe you 6 for my 6 day absence of writing! So here it goes... Post for November 8,2012 Below is a video that the Alpha-1 Association posted on their facebook page. I found it rather interesting to watch, its somewhat humorous as well. I find peoples responses to the awareness of alpha-1 to be similar to the ones I receive every time I bring it up to some one knew. Just finishhing up my first semester of College I have faced this odd moment when you mention that your family is affected by Alpha-1 and you get the "you have 5 heads" look for the next 30 seconds until...

Since I haven't written for 5 days I have 5 things I need to share about Alpha-1 so here it goes.... Here are some quick facts... 1.) Alpha-1 is a genetically passed disease from parent to child that is passed through generations. 2.) Alpha-1 Affects males and females equally as well as race. 3.) Alpha-1 Affects 1 out of every 2,500 people in the U.S. which adds to approximately 100,000 people. 4.) Approximately 20 million people carry the genes that can cause Alpha-1, normally they do not show side effects but can easily pass it on to their children 5.) 10-15% of Liver Transplants are because of Alpha related genetic abnormalities. These facts always interest me, many people don't know what alpha-1 is and many are misdiagnosed, these numbers do not count those misdiagnosed and they are already large, imagine if they did. It is our job as advocates for this just under 50 year old disease, to become known, to everyone, so the suffering can stop and a cure can be foun...

Can you tell someone has Alpha by just looking at them??? The answer is no! For a few years before my dad went on supplemental oxygen no one could tell that he was affected by Alpha-1. Many of the people around us could not understand why my family was so concerned and what was really going on. Most thought it was a simple fix little did they know it is not as simple as it sounds. I remember when my father first began using supplemental oxygen, the first time my friends saw it was at my 16th birthday party. I remember some of them coming up to me and saying, "what happened to your dad is he OK?" It was like everything I had been talking about for the last two years and how concerned I was finally hit them, no things were not okay, my life was more complicated then it once had been but it was time to make another adjustment and find a new 'normal'. People on the outside of the situation had no idea what was going on until there were visible signs, its amazing how u...

It’s November!! What does that mean?!? It is once again Alpha-1 Awareness month!! As many of you know I started this very blog because of Alpha-1. My family is affected by this genetic condition in our everyday activities. Most people ask what is alpha-1 because they have never heard of it before,   I hadn’t either until I found out that my dad suffered from the condition, so to answer your questions here is the answer! What is Alpha 1? Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (Alpha-1) is a genetic condition that is passed on by parents to their children through their genes and can cause serious liver disease in children and liver and/or lung disease in adults. Alpha-1 antitrypsin is a protein that is produced mostly in the liver. Its primary function is to protect the lungs from neutrophil elastase. Neutrophil elastase is an enzyme that normally serves a useful purpose in lung tissue-it digests damaged or aging cells and bacteria to promote healing. However, if left unchecked, i...

Well now that it has been a week since I have written I decided it was time to write once again! I always promise myself that I am going to write more often and it never happens!! In the last week a lot has happened, especially with the crazy weather that has been hitting the north east! The hurricane was not bad out here out LVC but was so devastating in many other areas; my heart goes out to all of those who have been affected by the storm. Here at LVC we had two days of class cancelled and as I am sure you can imagine that set us college kids into a crazy state. We all caught up on sleep and work, well maybe just some work and hung out together. I think the most common thing I did was sleep and watch movies. In the two days without class I slept a total of almost 22 hours! It was amazing and much needed!! Since we were lucky enough to not loss power in the valley movies and video games were huge. All day Monday and Tuesday we watched movies and Monday night some of us hung out c...

I am such a bad blogger, it has been way to long since I last wrote! My apologize! Things have been crazy in the world of college. Between classes, assignments, field work, and music ensembles it seems I have no time to eat or sleep anymore. My relaxation consist of watching movies while writing papers. Probably if I didn't watch movies while doing my work it would get done a little bit faster, but it keeps me from going crazy by having  the movie playing while I pound my head into books. This past week has been crazy from 8am till late at night when my homework is finally complete. A good nights sleep consist of 6 hours, and that's a lucky night. Today is always my crazy day, the day of madness, Wednesdays are always the peak of madness in my week. It seems I have so much to do that 24 hours in one day is simply not enough, that is partly do to the fact that my Wednesdays are always filled with non stop activity from 7:30 when I wake up till at least dinner around 5:30. It is...

Today's photo challenge is a picture of who I am missing. I am missing my friends, some of the most amazing people in the world!!! We have been through so much together, but somehow we have stayed friends, even when it seemed impossible. I miss my girls, the people I have trusted with everything and the people that know far more then most. When I look at this group of girls we have many things in common but also many things that make us unique. We all met because of music or an extra curricular activity and each person in this photo was in marching band together. We all have been through hell and back, together! Each of us are in college (with the exception of Meara because she is a senior in high school this year) but with a different major, we have future musicians,teachers, scientist, and doctors. People who could change the world. I miss the conversations, the fun, and the crazy thing we did together. All of us still talk, I have talk to each one of these girls since going...

Fall break came and went very quickly, as most breaks do. it amazes me how quickly it came and went. I apologize for my epic fail to post during fall break, but it was a very busy 4 days that didn't allow me much time. My break was filled with family and friends. It was great to see some people that I have not seen in so long. Friday night I enjoyed going to the football game at my high school with one of my dear friends Kate. It was so fantastic to see her and many others. This was the first time I got to see The PHS marching band this season, and let me tell you they are looking fantastic this year!! I am so proud of the work all of them have done and loved seeing all of their smiling faces, especially the fluties :) I also got to see my best friends family (a.k.a. my 2nd family) as well as some other friends and "families". I was thrilled to see some of them and to catch up. After the game I spent some much need time catching up with Kate! Saturday involved a lot of t...

  Chicken Tender Thursday.... ahhh life is good!! If you are an LVC student you know exactly what I am talking about. It is the day we live for here on campus and the lunch that no one will miss. Yes it is the most unhealthy meal ever but it is completely worth it!! Today's chicken tender celebration was especially fantastic because for me it marked the end of all my midterms! I have survived my first exam week as a college student and boy am I glad its over. I think this week is the most stressful and sleep deprived week I have had as a college student. I have been locked away in my room studying and going completely crazy for 5 days; the relief of knowing its over is like the world being lifted off my shoulders. Tomorrow marks the beginning fall break which after this week is much needed. More post to come over break...

After today, I know 100% that I made the right choice! I know that I am at the right place. I now know I can trust myself a little bit more. After Today I know that when I "grow up" I am going to teach. I said that to my mom after the first day of first grade, at that point in my life everyone wanted to be a teacher so everyone thought it was a stage. 13 years later I am saying the same thing. You may be asking why the revelation today?? Well in the last two years I have had al ot of revelations, about myself and my future. Experiences,people, and a change of self have helped me to begin piecing together these revelations. Today's Revelation occurred when I had my first field experience in a pre-k classroom. Although I am not looking to teach kids that young it is helping me to get a feel for what is to come, and I love it!! The energy the kids bring, the creativity and the mutual learning that occurs between the students and teacher makes all the work seem like its not ...

  One thing I can't stand... Well this falls on the perfect day! The amount of school work I have right now might make me go crazy!! It is midterms week and trust me it is in full swing. I have an exam in almost every class and if I don't have an exam I most certainly have a major assignment that seems to all be due on the same day!! I have been fully welcomed to the college world at this point... I have no motivation even though I need all the motivation in the world right now to move it and do all these assignments. The only thing keeping me from going completely insane is my 1 hour of practicing I can fit into my day, which is a stretch. Once this week is over, i can begin to regain all sanity and once again have something called a social life. Well all for now. Back to the books!!! Friday please come faster!!!

The Pride of the Valley 2012    The "Flute" line coming onto the field The band in the Stands This weekend my life consisted of band and only band. We had our normal Saturday morning rehearsal before a home game which was great although the score did not turn out as we had hoped. My parents came to the game which was nice to see them in the stands once again like they were in high school. The stands as always were a ton of fun especially with the excitement of the game yesterday. There were definitely plenty of ups and downs. After the game I went to dinner with mom and dad, it was nice to get a chance to talk to them and be able to spend a bit of time together. After spending time with them I quickly fell asleep, it had been a long and tiring day. I am fighting off a cold that has come from much of the band who also has a cold, trust me the band shares everything, including germs, so it doesn't shock me that I fell asleep so quickly.  The...

 Day 6- A picture that makes me laugh.... This challenge took me sometime to find a picture, there were a couple that came right to mind but didn't seem to fit completely. It took me going through my pictures to find this one and come to the conclusion that this was the picture that makes me laugh, but it also makes me think of the amazing people in the picture and why I love each and everyone of them. This picture was taken in June 2012 in Sea Isle City, NJ during senior week. Well this picture certainly makes me laugh, but it gets my mind thinking of so much more. As I look at this picture it shows a small piece of each of my friends personality. Erin is looking at her sandwich going "what the heck, why does there have to be sand in this? I really wanted to eat that". Kate is just living in the moment, smiling away despite the clouds and sand pelting us. Laura is thinking through why whatever she is eating doesn't taste good and how can we solve the sand probl...

6 years old at the beach 1st year   Today's post challenge was to post pictures of when I was young. the top picture of me at the beach is one of my favorite pictures when I was young. I love the fun loving care free spirit I have in the picture. Well all for today, been a busy day. More tomorrow!!!

Day 4- What is one thing you want to forget in your life???   If there was one thing I could forget about it would be the year 2011. Most of my memories from 2011 are not fond memories, rather they are memories that forever changed my life. It was the year that took me down to the ground and it took me all of that year to begin to build myself back up, to be able to stand up on my own again. Although the year was extremely negative for me there were good things that looking back came out of that terrible year and the terrible situations. I learned to be myself, and love myself like I never had before. I began embracing my differences rather then hiding them and building my self confidence back up. I learned that I have the most loving and amazing parents and family members, who when I fell were right there to pick me up and hold  me up until I could stand again. I learned that I have friends that are golden and can never ever be replaced. Friends that helpe...

Day 3- Favorite memory My favorite memories have been created in Vermont with my family. Vermont is a second home for me, it is the place were I spent the winters of my childhood. At just 6 weeks old I took my first trip to Vermont and my first trip to the top of Killington Peak. I continued going to Vermont after that with my parents and took off skiing at the age of 4. Ever since I began to ski I have not stopped, nor do i think I will ever stop. Its like walking for me. I  use to ski with my family and have created so many memories on and off the ski slopes in Vermont. Although over the years our trips to Vermont have become vastly different in nature we still find it to be a magical place. We may no longer be able to ski as a family because of my Dad's illness but that has not stopped us from creating new memories in our favorite place. We can look back and remember the times when we were able to ski as a family. We talk about my first time skiing from Killington Peak ...

Day 2- People who are Important to you I have a list of many people that are very important to me but here are some of the people that matter most to me and at a moments notice are there for me!!   Katina and I at a concert this summer!!   Katina and I are best friends for sure, we share everything together. How to share really what are friendship is, is probably impossible to put into words. We have been through everything together and always support each other. Most friends don't last through the things we have but we did. We have laughed and cried together and been through some of the craziest things and have managed to create ever lasting memories!! I can tell her anything without her judging me which is comforting and she can do the same with me. She loves me for who I am even when most people would want to disown me and I love her just the same way! We both can trust each other with our deepest secrets and personal things. She is like a s...

To keep me writing I am going to start a 30 day challenge today! I have done "challenges" like this before on my blog but I feel its time to do one again. I am sure there will be great difference in the things I post, from about a year ago when I did the last one of these. Here goes day 1! Yay!! Day 1 - A picture of yourself and 15 facts...   I am a college student at Lebanon Valley College I am an only child and at moments love it but at others hate it I have amazing Parents!!! Who are the most wonderful people in the world I have a dog Named Rocky... he's a ball of energy for sure I have an amazing Extended Family, who I wouldn't trade in for the world! I have the greatest best friends ever!! They have been through hell an back with me and some how we have stuck together through it all. Love you guys! I play flute and it is my favorite things to do behind teaching! I am currently majoring in Elementary and Special Education I love to paint and...

Last night was the Pride of the Valley's first official performance of our half time show this year. It marked my first official College Performance. Due to rain, our show was not performed 2 weeks ago at our first home football game. Our first performance was an exhibition performance at a local High Schools competition. It was odd to me to be there but know we were not competing. It brought back a lot of memories of my experience with my high school marching band, which helped to explode my love for music even further and provided me with some of my closest friends and greatest memories. Its amazing how music can change everything. For me music has done that. It has changed everything for me, It changed my friends, my experiences, and what I have done with my life. It changed me from an athlete to a musician and helped me to break out of my shell. It has given me experiences of a life time. Experiences I will never forget. I find myself looking back at my high school experience ...