Lunedi!

Sheesh.. if these days get any longer, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself! It's incredible how much we've crammed in to each of these days so far!
Today was Monday, the first day of classes, the first day of work for me, and the first day of official on-sight class.
Monday started off bright and early, had a quick breakfast and then classes started. Bible was first with Dr. Miller. I'm really looking forward to my first class with him, he seems like an awesome teacher. I also think the material is going to be a lot of fun. We'll be studying the life of Paul. :) in Italy. ((so cool.))
Next we had our first humanities class which will normally be with Robbie but he had to be at a meeting today, so we watched a movie on the Medici family and the construction of the Duomo. It was SUPER cheesey, but it had a lot of interesting information that came in handy when we actually went to the Duomo later in the afternoon. It helped me to appreciate it even that much more, so all in all, it was a good humanities class.
After humanities we had our first Italian class with Mona. Learned the alphabet, we learned to count (to 49), we worked on our pronunciation of many different words. It was a lot of fun. We also learned another song... and it was hilarious. It was similar to Old McDonald had a farm.. but it was about Uncle Tony or something like that and we listened to this high childlike voice singing it and then we had to sing along. Good times :)
So this is completely random, but I'm sitting at the cute little table in my room looking out one of my windows at the city lights and it is just breathtaking. It distracts me, and I end up just staring out the window trying to wrap my head around the idea that I'm living in Italy. THe city looks awesome at night, and the twinkling lights makes it seem even more like a fantasy.
Back on track now! When we were finished with Italian we had an abbreviated chapel and then it was lunch time. It was a four cheese pasta today, with roast beef and bread and fruit and green beans.
I was on clean up duty for lunch, and so I got my first day at working in the kitchen. It is pretty simple work, the process they have for washing dishes is an interesting one. They fill up the sink with soapy water. You wash the dirty dishes in the water (which quickly becomes disgusting because there is only one sink so you can't rinse them before you wash them, it all goes into the water), and then you put them in little trays. Once the tray is full you put it into a steam cleaner similar to a dish washer, which takes somewhere between 3 and 5 minutes. Once that is done you take the tray out and let the dishes air dry. The you put them away. There are always plenty of dishes so one person usually washes and puts them on the tray and the other person puts the trays in and takes them out of the steam cleaner and puts them away when they're dry. You also take out the trash when you're done with the dishes.
I didn't get to finish because we had to leave for the duomo but it was a good first day. :)
I ran and grabbed my stuff and then headed out to the first van down to the train station. Dr. Miller was driving us, and he is still getting used to driving the vans. He's doing good, he just doesn't go crazy fast like Robbie and Kyle. He had to run inside, so he parked the van and just as he got back in and sat down, Kyle was behind us and feeling impatient. He was driving the other van, and about a minute later while Dr. Miller was getting situated he gave us a little bumper bump. Okay, he ran into us, but it wasn't a hard hit. It was a love tap. Or a GET GOING tap. lol. Dr. Miller turned around with a funny look on his face and asked us all, "Did he really just hit me??!" It was pretty funny, crazy Kyle.
We took the train in to the last stop and walked to the Duomo. OH. And may I just say, the wind here is like nothing I have ever experienced. And that is saying a lot considering I lived in Wyoming and played soccer at PPCS in Colorado Springs. (if you've ever been to a game up there, you know how wicked the wind can be.) It is bitter and comes in HUGE gusts that knock the breath out of you and blow the hood of your coat off and threaten to blow you off in a direction. Not my favorite part of the day, ha!
We waited for the rest of the group to join us outside the baptistry, and attempted not to freeze. We took a group picture, which I think this is the third group picture where you can't see me and honestly, it's okay haha. Then we met with our guide, Cindy, who was actually a HUF student herself before she decided to move to Italy and is now a tour guide. I learned a lot and it was INCREDIBLE.
Today, I got to see the works of Donatello and Michelangelo. I also got to stand in the exact place where Michelangelo commissioned the original David. The thought gave me chills when she told us that fun fact. It's crazy, being here. I've learned about these artists and now I'm walked the streets they walked and seeing the work that they created and left for us so many years ago.
We saw the baptistry and the inside of the Duomo and the museum of the works of the Duomo. It was incredible. If you can, check out some of the pictures I posted on Facebook. Unbelievable..

Just a thought, but the dome of the Duomo (which doesn't mean dome, it means cathedral I believe) is huge, freestanding, and 250 to 300+ feet off the ground; can you imagine being one of the artists hanging by a rope painting the fresco on that? You were literally risking your life to paint. Or the men who built the dome? With the bricks? If you get a chance to research how the ended up completing the Duomo, do it. It's incredible.. especially considering when they were finishing it, and the lack of modern technology.

Anyway, we finished up the tour at the museum and then headed to a restaurant for dinner. And guess what... WE HAD HAMBURGERS!!! hahaha :) oh cooked meat on a bun, how wonderful thou art. lol. :) just kidding, not that dramatic, but it was nice to mix it up. (it's a good thing I love italian food!)
After that, we had the choice of hanging out in the freezing cold Florence or head home to the nice, warm Villa. After a long day, and considering the fact that I'd just downed a glass of water and a full can of sprite {if you know me well, you understand how important this small detail is in my decision making} I decided to head home to the Villa. And I still haven't got any dollars changed to euros and it was so incredibly cold and I was exhausted (excuses, I know). Anyway, Jordan and I decided to head to the train station and try and catch Kyle or Robbie with one of the vans before they headed to the villa. So we took a nice (freezing cold) walk to the train station and then up to the vans. We met up with Kyle and Britt on the train (as we were walking off, haha) and headed up to the villa.
I've been relaxing and uploading pictures (and playing ping pong & piano with Grant and Laura (the Miller kids) since I got home. Now, it's got to be close to bed time. 11:30 is a reasonable time to go to bed when you get up at 6ish and have a day like this, right?

Welllllll.. I suppose it is about that time. Hope you enjoyed hearing about my day!!

Buona notte!

Kortney Alacyn

First Day in Florence

Buona sera!

OH magracious!!! What another incredible day. Today, being Sunday, was our first day of church. We went into Florence (the Villa is in Scandicci) to worship with a small congregation. So, I woke up this morning, got ready for church, had a quick breakfast, and then got shuttled down to the train station. There we waited for all of our group and the correct train to arrive. After our train, we walked about a half mile to a mile and then took a bus to the church. The church was located in the renovated remains of a 16th century wealthy home. The room was dome shaped and the acoustics were incredible. We arrived about 20 minutes before the service started, and so we sang some hymns in English. It was awesome. The service was held mainly in Italian, but Robby also spoke and he did both languages for us. We sang a bunch of Italian songs, but the first one was the Italian version of Holy, Holy, Holy. So we sang one verse in English, and then three in Italian. Sometimes we just listened, sometimes we attempted to join in, but regardless it was incredible to listen to. It was one of those moments when you go, "Wow, Lord. So nice of You to join us here!" because His presence is literally tangible. After church we walked a ways to a nice restaurant for lunch. Our first course consisted of two pastas, our second course was some kind of meet (can't think of what it is at the moment), then we had fries, and salad. It was a great meal! The bathroom was interesting. You walked in and there was two sinks, and two single-toilet rooms. One for the boys, one for the girls. So you kind of share the main area of the bathroom. Oh, and there are not seats on the toilets. So you have to squat over it. (I'm going to be in SUCH good shape at the end of this adventure!) 

Okay, you're going to have to bear with me because I can not remember the names of anything yet, sorry!!

We took a bus ride after lunch and went to the look out, which is the most photographer area of Florence. It is INCREDIBLE. Robby is a fast walker, and for a photographer that's bad news. However, here, he had to tell just about everyone to stop taking pictures so he could talk to us and then he gave us time to take pictures. I took 415 pictures today. Needless to say, I got some pictures at this spot. Then we walked us to a church/chapel thing that was over 2000 years old. Walking in was like walking into a different era. It was escaping everything of todays world to just be still. Though it was a Sunday and there were some people inside, we walked down underneath to the tomb/burial area of a Christian who was beheaded because of his faith is. There we sat down, and we started to sing. We sang three songs. Three incredible songs that gave us all goosebumps and brought some of us close to tears. It the dark, cool area we drew a crowd. It was one of the neatest experiences I've ever had. 

After that we kept walking. (We walked SO much today!!) We walked all over Florence. Over two bridges that were destroyed during wars that have been rebuilt. There is so much history everywhere we go here!! 

After walking for like two hours it was starting to get really chilly, mostly because of the wind. We headed in towards the center of town, to one of the squares, (wherever the original David was) and saw the many statues that are there now. We went to a little bar that was located there, and got cappuccinos or gelato. I, of course, got some gelato. FINALLY!! :) haha. We sat outside but they had some heaters out there so it was nice. After gelato we went to the Pig and rubbed his nose so we would have to come back some day :) (Kreg, this made me think of you!) After that we continued our walk and saw the Duomo (ha! a name!!) and one other cathedral on our way to the train station. Robby talked to us about how to navigate the train station and then we headed to the shuttles to go home! When we got back to the Villa we had some dinner, and then everyone has just been hanging out since then. We've played cards, ping pong, a bunch of the girls have been dancing and singing (LOUDLY! haha), and then I played sardines with a few of the other students. It's been a great day, but I am exhausted! Tomorrow I've got classes from 8 until 12 or 1 and then we're heading back to the Duomo for some on-sight schooling. 

The school here I think is going to be very challenging, but I'm looking forward to it! 

It is still a little surreal that I'm actually here. That this is my home for the next three months. How crazy is that? I think it will.. eventually! 

Well, thanks for tagging along with me. Hope these blogs aren't too dull, and I hope my thoughts aren't too jumbled. There is so much to take in, sometimes it's hard to remember it all and even harder to get it all down on paper or a blog. But I'll do my best!

Ciao!

Kortney Alacyn

Greetings from Italy

Ciao!

That's right, I am in Italy!!! How insane is that? Completely. Incredibly. Amazingly. I'll try to tell you all about my journey, but I don't know how frequently I'll be on blogging! I plan on at least journaling everyday to keep track of what I've done! (otherwise, I know I will forget things. )

So I set out on this incredible adventure early Thursday morning. I woke up at 6 o'clock (after getting about three hours of sleep) and was on my way out of Colorado Springs by 8! My plane left (a little late, thanks Delta) at 10:55 and I arrived in Atlanta around 3. At the airport I met up with the other members of my HUF group, grabbed some lupper, and then boarded the plane for Paris around 5:30. The plane left somewhere around 6:40 pm and we arrived in Paris about 8:30 am on Friday. Boy was that a fun ride. ;) I sat next to one of the girls in my group that I still don't really know, she was on my right, and a frenchman was on my left. On the far right (we were in a row of four) was another frenchman who apparently had a very bad cough. The frenchy on my left was a nice man, and a VERY heavy sleeper. We talked once, briefly, and smiled at each other. When it was time to try and sleep on the plane, I had very little luck. However, my little friend did not. He fell asleep, because he got very comfortable. How did he get so comfortable, you ask? Well, he put his feet where my feet were supposed to go, and then curled over into a little ball on my side. Wellllll. Needless to say I wasn't very comfortable. I pulled my feet up onto my seat with me and tried to sleep, ha! Then, the inevitable time came when I had to go to the bathroom. So I gently shook my little friend's shoulder so I could get out. Well. He didn't wake up. So I tried again with a little more force. Yeah, still nothing. So I coughed AND shook his shoulder. He sat up a little straighter and continued to sleep. The two people to my right were also sleeping, and I really didn't want to have to wake up both of them. So, I just stood up on my seat and jumped over. Got an applause from my fellow HUF buddies David and William, cause they are awesome and were laughing at my misfortune. Had to jump back into my seat, too. Got maybe 30 minutes of sleep total on that plane ride, but it wasn't too bad.
My next flight was about an hour and a half from Paris to Florence, and that one I got a half hour to an hour of sleep on. It was splendid.
Once we arrived in Florence we sat at the airport for another hour and a half, we had to wait for some people's luggage to arrive and for two of the boys because they missed their second flight due to delays of their first flight.
Next we took a bus to Scandicci, and then walked up the hill to our home away from home. Let me just say, living in a villa that was made in 1492 is basically awesome. It's so cool!!! My room is the best of the girls room, (I may or may not be biased), because there are only four girls in it instead of six, and we have two awesome windows with incredible views.
When we first arrived we had a quick little meet-and-greet with the staff at the Villa and then we got our room assignments. We got some... well, interesting instructions from the lovely Mona :) haha two of the first things she told us were: After you shower, clean out your own hair with a Kleenex or something, AND if you have to do a number 2, "line the runway" with some toilet paper, or make sure you use the brush afterwards. hehe. After that we took our stuff up to our rooms and started unpacking and getting settled in. Then we had dinner, (I think, sadly I can't remember much from yesterday!) and it was delicious spaghetti and bread and fruit and meats and vegetables. It was wonderful!
Then we cleaned up the tables, and got ready for our meeting. We learned a lot, I'm sure, I just don't remember it all ;) We learned about some student work positions available, and learned what we were going to do today. Besides that... I couldn't tell you much. ha! (Keep it mind I'd been up for 28+ hours at this time on about 4 hours of sleep total).
I got on facebook, put up some pictures, and tried to stay awake a while longer.
Today we got up. Got ready. Had some breakfast. Then started orientation.
Orientation lasted for a long time. Like.. five hours. But we went through a lot of information about a lot of different things. I have so far learned how to sing two songs in Italian! I still don't really know much about my classes or anything, but hopefully I'll get that figured out before Monday. We had lunch here at the villa, then got ready for the Scandicci Walk. We walked from the villa into town and then all around town. We looked at shops and saw the library, went to a bar to order a cappuccino in Italian, and then walked around some more and saw town hall and a bunch of other stuff. Including a castle. Pretty awesome.
Then we had an hour to shop. I went to the market with Amanda, Jenna, Kyle, William, and Jordan, but it was closing up for the evening so we didn't stay for very long. We met for dinner at 6 and had these sandwich taco things... The place was packed and there was only one person working when we got there, so Kyle (from HUF, the worker, not the student) hopped behind the counter and started helping her out. We ate our food, and some of the Italians (either in high school or college) who were in there put on one of their iPods and were playing all of their American music (like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a bunch more) All the guys (both Italian and American) were singing along. It was a good time :)
Since I was in group 1, I was one of the first people done eating, so I was one of the first four people home. (me, Amanda, Jordan and Kyle). So I checked/updated Facebook and this little blog. Then it was time for our PARTY!!
It was a WELCOME TO ITALY/GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER party and it was SO much fun! hahaha.. Mona did her "little bunny foo foo" and it was so funny. We played a bunch of games, including The Name Game. In this game it started with four people in the middle, and a bunch of people sitting in a circle. Each of the four people had to run over to someone, yell at them "WHAT'S YOUR NAME?!" to which the person would scream their name at them, then the one who asked would dance around in a circle while chanting their name eight times. Then, the one who told them their name would stand in front of that person (you made a train) and run over to someone else and ask (yelling, of course) what their name was. With four teams going, it was a mess and a lot of fun!
I had a great time, and I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone in my group more!!

Until next time my blog followers! (hehe)
Ciao!

Kortney Alacyn

CIAO!!

Hello From Harding

Hello Colorado! (and other parts of the world)

For those of you who don't know, which I'm pretty sure everyone who reads this does, I am now in Searcy, Arkansas attending Harding University. And I love it! I have been here for two and a half weeks now, and things are going pretty well. When I decided to attend Harding this fall, it was already late summer. Because of my late application date, and the fact that Harding has a HUGE freshman class this year, finding housing for me was a little difficult - but it's okay, because that actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. With the overwhelmingly large number of incoming students this semester, Harding had to find some new(ish) places to house their students. That meant that 26 students were going to be given the opportunity to live at Harding Place. The way I prefer to describe Harding Place is "apartments." In actuality, Harding Place is a retirement home, and I'm honestly okay with that description, too. We've got nice size rooms, our own bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. I am actually in a two bedroom apartment, and right now there are three girls living here. We've got a larger room with two closets and an attached bathroom, and a smaller room with one closet and a bathroom right across from it. I am absolutely loving living here! I'm getting the college experience, but with a lot more freedom than those living in the dorms. It is a much more relaxed environment, and since there is a kitchen I don't have to have meal plan! Yippee :)

I love my classes. I am taking Families in Society, Family Relationships, Life of Christ, General Psychology, Family & Consumer Science as a Profession, and Kinesiology. My family classes are my favorite! My professor's name is Dr. Beth Wilson, and she is incredible. I love learning about family relationships, and why they are so important to society. God definitely knew what He was doing when He sent me here this semester. :)

Time has absolutely flown since I've been here. My mom, me, and the Kell family drove out here starting on Tuesday the 16th of August. We drove half the way, spent the night in Kansas, and then left the next morning. We arrived in Searcy and headed to Craig and Carol Jones' house to spend some time with Kreg's family who graciously put us up! We moved into my apartment on Thursday, and I've been living here ever since! My family stayed until Monday after my classes, and then they headed back to Colorado. Since arriving in Arkansas, I have:
1. Moved into my apartment
2. registered for my classes
3. signed up for HUF (for NEXT semester - Spring 2012 - prayers are appreciated as I'm currently on the waiting list! I'm definitely excited for this adventure, Lord willing!)
4. figured out how to navigate Searcy
5. Started a cookies tradition at Lenny's
6. tried out for Harding's women's soccer team - and made it!
7. Started working for Brian Maddox State Farm
8. made the decision between working and playing soccer. Definitely have to work, so hopefully we can work soccer into my schedule some other way. (tough decision, I LOVE SOCCER)
9. visited Heber Springs
10. made new friends
11. gone to walmart about a thousand times
12. hung out with the coolest roommate ever
13. made a TON of cookies
14. figured out how to meet guys  (two foolproof ways - one, wear a jersey of your favorite professional football team - and two, take cookies to the lobby of one of the boys' dorms lol)
15. gone to some incredible devotionals
16. experienced the Racquet ball devo - in case you don't know, those rooms echo/intensify sound, so if you have a hundred kids in their singing their hearts out, it is the most unbelievable sound!
17. had an epic girls night with Ashley, Raquel, and Lauren =)
18. missed my family and friends more than i could possibly say. and colorado too.
19. written a 7 page single-spaced paper, followed by a three page single-spaced paper in one night and got 100s on both
20. hiked up to the nosebleeds section for chapel every morning - good thing I'm from Colorado or the altitude change might affect me ;)
21. grown closer to my Lord and learned to draw nearer to Him when I need strength
22. made a homemade pizza entirely by myself :)
23. met some really great people living at Harding Place
24. done all of my laundry - TWICE
25. started a new journey, a new chapter in life, and enjoyed every second of it - even the ones that are hard.

I'm really excited to see what else God has in store for me here. I miss everyone at home, and I hope that you are all doing well. Thank you all for being in my life! GOD IS SO GOOD.

Kortney Alacyn

Jeremiah 29:11, Joshua 1:9 - these have really helped to get me through the "scary" moments so far.

How Do You Know...?

How do you know when you are in love? When you don't have to ask people how you know. 

Lately, I've been dealing a lot with differing opinions. How can two people have two such different feelings? How can one believe they will be together forever, and the other see them being only good friends? Why is it that one person can say "I love you" and mean one thing, and one person think "I love you" and feel something totally different? Is love truly so diverse? Perhaps. Or is it that people's perception of love is what is truly so diverse. 

For kicks and giggles (being that I am of the internet era), I google searched "definitions of love" and pulled up the first link. The first section had over 20 different definitions (most of which I didn't care for). One did stand out, however, and it was "the benevolent affection of God for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God." I liked that one. The next section had 18 definitions, many similar to the ones in the first section. Ones that I didn't particularly appreciate were the ones who listed love simply as:

"sexual passion or desire."

"a love affair;" (which is just dumb since you're not supposed to use the word in the definition! ha!)

"sexual intercourse; copulation."

"to have sexual intercourse with."

Now, I am no expert in "love" whatever it may be, but I'm pretty sure this common conception of love may explain part of the World's problems (or at least the United State's problems) with love and marriage. If love = sexual passion. Period. We would have a big ol' problem. 

While I didn't like 95% of the definitions of love - for lack of depth, for a completely different idea than how I see love, or whatever the reason - they did prove that there is definitely more than one opinion of what love is. 

The definition that I did like, the one that related it to our devotion to God and His caring for us, lead me right into my next source. The one that was sitting next to my bed that I had reached for first, then decided to see what the world said first (just cause I wanted to see how wrong the world was this time). 

I opened my bible up to one of my favorite chapters and books of the bible - 1 Corinthians 13. I'm sure most of you know it well, but I'll put it up here anyway. Starting in verse 4. 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Now my Mom, being the extremely wise woman that she is, has told me that if I want to be someone worthy of loving, I should put my name in place of "love" (i.e. Kortney is patient, Kortney is kind). She has also told me to do the same with the name of the person who I am loving and wondering if maybe, just maybe, they could be my husband. 

Something that I have really been drawn to the last few times I read this was that these verses are describing God. Which brings me to my conclusion. 

If people are having such differing feelings on whether or not they are in love - they need to compare it to this verse. Both themselves, the other person, and the love/relationship that they have with each other. They need to give it to God, to trust Him completely and pray only for His will to be done (because praying for our will to be done is really quite selfish, and therefore not congruent with love as described above.)

God is love. End of the story. I now know that I will know when I am in love - because it will be God-breathed. 

Thanks for baring with me while I scrambled my way through this thought process to get these feelings and thoughts out. If you are now thoroughly confused, I apologize. If you read through all of this then I applaud you!! You're great :) 

Anyway, it's way past my bed time and so I am going to happily drift towards peaceful dreams of my true love now... Goodnight.

Kortney

Looking Back at the Past 19 Years...

On May 23rd 2011 I will be 19 years old. Wow. How'd that happen? 

Wasn't it just yesterday that I was three years old making paper airplanes with my Dad and sisters in our living room in Greeley from the old printer paper my Dad brought from his office? 

Wasn't it yesterday when my Mom brought our sweet Peek-a-poo puppy home that we named Dante A Boy Good? 

Could it be that in the past 19 years I:

Moved from Greeley to Cheyenne?

Discovered we were going to be adding a little boy to the family?

Watched Daddy and Grumpy and Grandpa finish the big, beautiful walk out basement in our home in Cheyenne?

Returned (as a Brownie) from a Girl Scouts retreat to a new furniture set in my big girl room - Courtesy of my Aunt Kristy, my Aunt Kristi, my Parents and Keleigh? 

Was starting first grade being home schooled with the world's greatest teacher?

Made the move with my family to Draper. (where it went from - WOW you have 4 kids? to Really, you only have 4 kids? hahaha) 

Made new best friends with Rebecca and Brittany and Sean and Troy?

Was baptized by my Daddy?

Was singing and dancing for Encore Performers? 

Played basketball on a team for the first time? 

Played soccer with 14 year olds when I was 9? 

Moved again, back to Colorado? 

Started going to a private school instead of being home schooled? 

Played soccer at a competitive level? 

Made a couple new best friends, Sarah and Ashley? 

Had my first "real" crush and boyfriend (hehehe, Bryant). 

Started high school? 

Watched my sister get married?

Got my drivers license, and my first car?

Graduated high school? 

Became an aunt?

Started and finished college? 

Got my first job?

Started a career? 

Bought my first house?

Had my first mature relationship?

Met, made, and lost friends?

The last 19 years have flown... and I'm sure the next 19 will do the same. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my life, and made me who I am. I know that so much more has happened in the last 19 years than what I mentioned, but to recount my entire life would take quite a while. Thank you, to my Lord and Savior, for blessing me with my family, my friends, many opportunities, and so much more. 

1st Corinthians 13:4-13, Proverbs 10:27, 31:30.

That Perfect Person

I know that it has been a while since I have really sat down to write on this blog. Life has been crazy and demanding, and I haven't really taken a lot of time for myself lately. At least, not time to do anything productive. However, there has been something on my mind lately. Something that needs to be addressed and something I wish I had a few days to take and just write the perfect blog about. However, since I don't have that kind of time right now, I'm going to try to make do with an hour and a half. Thanks for hanging in there with me, sorry if my thoughts are jumbled and unorganized! 

Many people say that there is no such thing as a perfect person, and depending on their definition of perfect, they are probably right. To most people, the word perfect simply means “to be free of any flaw or defect in condition or quality; faultless.” As humans, I believe that being flawed is in our nature, or at least it became part of our nature after Adam and Eve changed our lives forever. We are not, according to the afore mentioned definition, perfect. We make mistakes, we mess up over and over and over, and then we learn from it and try not to make the same mistake again. In that sense, we aren’t perfect. However, I would like to propose a new idea. That perhaps we can be perfect. I’ve been observing one specific person for over 18 years, and I have come to a conclusion that, from my studies, I have found a perfect person. Who is this perfect person? Well, let me tell you a little about my Test Subject #1. 

From day one of my studies, Test Subject #1 (TS1) has shown absolute selflessness. Through interactions between TS1 and myself, I found that if there was something that I needed, it would come before something that TS1 wanted or needed. That included sleep. I would keep TS1 up for hours at night, depriving this person of an essential aspect to functionality. But TS1 wouldn’t complain, wouldn’t ignore me and my helpless cries. Nope, TS1 was there to hold me close and calm me down, and then do for me everything that I couldn’t do for myself. As the years went by, some things changed, but many things stayed the same. I observed more characteristics in TS1 that made “perfect” a very fitting title. The selflessness grew above and beyond what any could comprehend, and sacrifice made it possible. TS1 began to grow into a lover, a nurturer, and a friend. 

If you haven’t figured out who TS1 is by now, you are silly, because it is obvious. Test Subject #1 on my studies of perfection is none other than my Mother. 

Now, my Mom has been there for me through thick and thin. She has seen me at my absolute worst, and she has seen my shine my brightest. And she has loved me through it all. 

My Mommy has been there to tuck me in at night. Now that I have moved out and am living on my own, I miss it more than I could possibly say. For 17 years there were very few nights that she wouldn’t make the journey to my room to tuck me in. The times when she couldn’t tuck me in, while I was still living at home, I never slept as well as the nights when she would. After I moved out, I couldn’t sleep because it just felt like something was missing. And something was.
My Mom has been my security blanket. While she has never babied me or hindered my growth, she has protected me and comforted me and I couldn’t imagine my life without her. God blessed me beyond belief with a woman to raise me who was so much like Himself. 

Through all of my struggles, I have been able to lean on her. She was there for me when I was little and I would get strep throat at least once a month. She was there for me when I started playing soccer, and was the littlest (and youngest) playing on the team. No matter how many cuts and bruises I had, she would take special care of each and every one. When I was nine and had to have my tonsils removed, she was the worlds greatest nurse. She had books and movies and stocked up on the few food items that I could actually consume. (ice cream, jello, pudding, icees, and other things of that sort) She read Spirit with me, and then we planned my birthday party with that theme. As I grew older and my struggles grew with me, she was always there for me. No matter if it was physical, emotional, or spiritual (or even mental) she would be the one to help me work things out. When I got into my middle-ish teen years, I started to realize just how wonderful of a woman she truly is. Then, I started to not want to share my failures with her, simply because I didn’t want to disappoint her. I turned to my friends for advice, and sometimes it worked out, but usually it only worsened. What make my Mom perfect when it comes the things that I struggle with, my failures, and my trials is that she never condescends me for them. She is the kind of woman who can take something that the world sees as ugly and worthless and make it shine like a beautiful diamond. My Mother lets God work through her, and accomplish SO much. She is perfect to Him.  So when things would get really bad, and I would be lost and broken, and I would finally talk to her about what I was struggling with or what I had messed up with lately, she would hold me tight and let me know it was going to be okay. Sure, the consequences to my actions were still there, but she helped me to make my wrongs right, and turn my life back around on track. God truly blessed me. 

My childhood was so spectacular, that I miss it everyday. Why? Not because I didn’t have the responsibilities that I have today, not because life was simpler, not because I could play all day long (well... those might have something to do with it.) My childhood was spectacular because I got to spend all day long, everyday, with my Mom. In the morning, she was my alarm clock. When my blinds would open, my light would turn on, and I would hear “This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made...” I knew it was time to get up and start a brand new day. After a quick shower, or sometimes just throwing on some sweats (because it is ALWAYS cold at my parents house - courtesy of my Dad :P), I would go to the kitchen for some eggs, or waffles, and chocolate milk. I would down my 10/15 vitamins and consume my delicious food. Then it was time for bible studies with my Mom. After that? Perhaps a math, english, science, or literature lesson. By lunch our main lessons were usually done, and all that was left was homework. After an hour break of playing outside with Drake, or watching Danny Phantom (also with Drake), and eating some bagel or tortilla shell pizzas, or dino nuggets, or a sandwich, or soup... etc. I would do my homework and be free for the afternoon. Sure there were chores, but a lot of time I could do them with her. Cleaning the bathrooms, sweeping and vacuuming, dusting, poop scooping the yard, etc. Then we could do fun things together. We could go to the park, or we could go play in our yard. We could take pictures. We could read together in the sunshine, we could chew our ice :) We could create masterpieces out of simple projects. We could make cookies for our Daddy love, and we could play cards. There were so many different ways that we could spend our time together... and looking back I miss it. 

My Mom, she gave me a perfect childhood. (My Dad played a HUGE part in that, as did God, but I’m focusing on her right now because she deserves to know how wonderful she is.) 

I recently got into a debate with an acquaintance/friend (depending on the day) about whether or not women can multi-task. HA. Duh. If he had ever observed my Mother, he would have put his foot in his mouth and admitted I was right ;) Who knew that there was a perfect multi-tasker out there? Me. I’ve been watching her do it for 18 years. She can juggle four kids, or five kids and a grandchild too, all their activities, and their needs. She loves each and every one of them CONSTANTLY and perfectly. She can cook dinner, help with homework, set up appointments, manage schedules, reprimand the tracking of mud through the house, encourage the practice of the piano in the background, and set the table all at the same time. 

Clearly, I could go on for HOURS about the perfect qualities of my Mother, but no one wants to read a novel on this blog. 

I just want her to know that she is perfect, she is beautiful, she is LOVELY, she is clever, she is intelligent, she is caring, she is kind, she is a prioritizer, she knows how to make life fun for everyone, she is a multi-tasker, she is the worlds greatest teacher, she is SO forgiving, she has an incredible-light-up-your-life smile, she is handy, she is outgoing, she is a chihuahua (inside joke), she is creative, she is funny, she makes life interesting - especially travel - she is generous, she is captivating, she is inspiring, and that SO MANY people love her, and treasure her, and would be lost without her. 

Mommy you have had a lasting impact on so many precious lives, and you have influenced them for the better. The way God works through you is magnificent, thank you for showing me daily what living for Him, through Him, and about Him looks like. I love you more than words could say, more than 1,630 words could say. You inspire me daily. I’m sorry for the times that I fail, and I thank you for the perfect example you are to me. Thank you for your perfect love. Thank you for being my Perfect Person. 

Kortney Alacyn