WARRRR EAGLE! HEY!

Well, I've made it to the end of September! I'm sitting here in the living room of the Alpha Xi Delta house at The Ohio State University working on reports and following up with emails. I got here early Saturday morning just in time to see the Ohio State football game. The game wasn't that great, but the stadium and atmosphere of college football was amazing!



Being on this campus makes me really miss Auburn! All day Saturday I was receiving texts from friends in AU about the game and how I should be there. I miss the tailgates, Jordan-Hare, Body-getta, and toomer's corner! The house here doesn't have cable, so I was receiving text updates about the game from my sissy Steph, and I must say that it completely stressed me out in a good kind of way! WAR EAGLE!

I'm still looking forward to my visit to Auburn which is coming up in 23 days, 11 hours, and 48 minutes (but who's counting). I miss the atmosphere and people in Auburn. It is such a special place to be, and I think that everyone should witness at least one game weekend in Auburn at some point in their life. Here's a link to an article written by a South Carolina Gamecock, and it makes me very proud to be an Auburn Tiger! Check it out, and you will want to be there, too!

http://www.dailygamecock.com/mobile/viewpoints/auburn-hospitality-sets-standards-1.1648337

My New Life Plan

So today was a day of hypotheticals compared to my reality. Hypothetically speaking, if it were 75 degrees outside today I could go for a jog and enjoy this beautiful city. Reality, it's 61 degrees with the wind blowing 10 miles per hour and overcast. Weather.com says that it feels like 61 outside, and I would seriously debate that with someone right now. It's COLD! I have sandals as shoes, 2 pairs of pants, and countless dresses and sleeveless shirts. My only pair of longsleeves is a t-shirt I purchased last week at the University of Illinois. Fact: I should have prepared my suitcase better when I was at home 2 weeks ago, and will now be going shopping this weekend. As a result of the previous stated fact, I will also be hitting up the post office (AGAIN) to ship home all of my shoes and dresses that are better suited for Alabama Septembers.

I miss my favorites in Auburn, which lead me to Hypothetical #2: If I were to walk from Milwaukee, WI to Auburn, AL how long would it take(since I don't have a car)? According to Google Maps, the journey from Milwaukee to Auburn should take a short 11 days and 3 hours. However, I highly doubt google takes into consideration that I will be dragging my overweight suitcase across the country with me, and will most certainly need food and sleep. There is a chance that I could lose a wheel on my suitcase, which could extend my time indefinitely. The upside to this journey is that I expect to lose some weight, which should increase my chances of being selected to be on the next Bachelor (since I applied last week). If the Bachelor doesn't work out for me, I expect the Discovery Channel to give me my own show if I miraculously complete the journey. A downside to this plan is that I only have 7 vacation days. I've used one already, and I'm pretty sure my bosses would be wondering why I wasn't at my next chapter. Other than that I see no major reason why this couldn't be a feasible task. Another downside is that while google does take me along roads, these roads don't travel through the most populated regions of the states I would be crossing. I would be going through the sketchy towns of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. I'm most concerned about Kentucky and Tennessee. After watching the Hills Have Eyes, I can only imagine the interesting situations I would encounter. Also, back to the fact that it's cold outside, the weather could really put a halt to my travel plans daily. So basically what I'm trying to say is that I plan to stick to flying for my travel plans, and avoid walking cross country for my vacations.

Another hypothetical that arose this afternoon was grad school. This thought wasn't so much a hypothetical as it was a debate with myself over the possibility of this being my plan for next year. Should I go to grad school? Can I afford it? Where do I want to attend grad school/live next year? Is it too late to study for the GRE? What kind of job will I get to afford this? Who will live with me? Is it really this cold outside right now? (Oh wait, that's not hypothetical, it actually is cold.)

The conclusion I came to was that I'm moving to Texas. This really has little to do with grad school, and more to do with the fact that I think I could have fun living in Austin. I can apply to the University of Texas for grad school, and get my MBA while enjoying a warmer climate and some good football. Bonus: the fact that Allison said she would move there, and I know other people in the area already. I will certainly go into debt for the 2 years I'm back in school, and receive tons of criticism from certain people about my life decisions and the fact that I "need to grow up". I'm working on the "growing up" part, but I refuse to do that in a boring manner because let's face it, that's just not my style! You only live once, so as long as I can make it by, I choose to live a little and see what I can make of my choices.

Now I just have to be realistic and figure out how to financially support all of my choices! :)

Week #?.....What day is it again?

So I must admit that the only reason I can tell you that today is Saturday is because I am doing sorority recruitment instead of watching College Football. I do have the chance to get internet access, occasionally, to check the scores and feel like I'm staying in the loop with the "real world".

Work is going well. All of the chapters I've had the opportunity to work with so far have been extremely successful this year, and they all make me so proud. This opportunity to work with so many college women has been an experience I will never forget, and it's only week 5!

The fabulous women of the Gamma Phi chapter at ECU made quota last week!!!!!!! I am ecstatic about the energy and enthusiasm these women have about being Alpha Xi Deltas, and welcoming the new ladies into their sisterhood. I totally miss hanging at the house, and listening to all of their fun stories. The text messages I get from them bring a smile to my face every day, and I can't wait to go back for another visit. Football season is in full swing now, and the ECU Pirates are doing a great job! I'm sending my love to all of those amazing women!!!!! Heart Sunshine!

I feel like all of my chapters are my childern. I don't have favorites and I love them all in different ways. My visit to University of Iowa was my first time at a midwest chapter. I must say I am not fond of Cedar Rapids; however, the reason is more for the lack of pleasant service at the airport at 5am, and not due to the actual city (the humidity in Iowa was amazing for my hair). Recruitment was a total success for our Sigma chapter this year, and the women worked so hard and implemented everything I tought them during the week. I can tell they are going to have an amazing year ahead, and I look forward to checking in with them!

After my cousin's wedding last week, I hit up the Alpha Eta chapter at Purdue! I was SOOOOO pummped to get to see Allison (for an entire week!!!!!). I missed all of recruitment, but got to see my first bid day! They had a band at this cool old mansion in town! It seems that I always miss the fun part of the job, so I'm loving the fact that I got to enjoy the benefits of the hard work and long hours.

Currently I am sitting at the Kappa house at the University of Illinois. We are in the middle of recruitment, and have preference tomorrow with bid day on Monday!!! Each chapter I have visited has been a new experience with different processes. So far I've met so many cool people, and I'm working overtime to remember all of these names.

Earlier this evening I told the ladies we were going to do an activity (fyi: for those of you that know me, you know that I have an endless supply of energy that is NOT matched by everyone...keep this in mind, because I have learned to not expect the same enthusiasm from the women that I have at 12:30am). I caught a little 'tude from the ladies who thought they were too cool for my fun activities, and told them to lock it up, and buckle up. Several of them asked if they could study, and by that I knew they meant facebook stalking. So I said, "Ok, raise your hand if you have a test tomorrow." One girl raised her hand, and I stared back at her and dramatically said, "LIARRRRR, tomorrow's Sunday!" What they don't realize is that this isn't my first rodeo! =) I love their spirit! For those of you who care, the activity went well, and the ladies ended up getting their much needed "study" time. Love you girls!

The current highlight of my life is the fact that Allison and I are sitting here texting as we sit side by side. :) LOVES it(except that her phone just died...lame)! We've had a week long sleepover, and I'm sad that we only have 2 more nights to go. :(

Next stop...Marquette in Milwaukee, WI!