Post for Catherine

**NOTE: Somehow I wrote over or saved over this post with my Christmas Eve post so the date of this post is actually 12/26/14 but I have changed the date to accurately reflect when it was originally posted. Since I am having to rewrite it three days later I don't exactly know what all happened. ALSO: Wall of Text.

I didn't have to work so I ended up hanging out with Catherine at some point because it could end up being the last time we get to have best friend time before I move to Orlando. This thought is so scary. Grad school is right around the corner! AHH!!

We ended up going to shopping in order to try and find something for me to wear to Christmas eve dinner but we didn't find anything unfortunately. EVEN IN THE 80% OFF DILLARD'S WHERE WE SPENT FIVE BILLION YEARS!! We also made mini pumpkin pies for me to take to work.

Then she gave me my Christmas presents and they couldn't be more perfect! She bought me Pyrex casserole dishes (EEEPPPPPP!!!), measuring cups and spoons, and a scrub brush because she knows I hate sponges. They are perfect, she's perfect.

You know, when I joined my sorority it was to kill time. I was just out of IB where free time did not exist and I had so much time on my hand that I had to find something constructive to do. THUS, I joined DNZ. I didn't really know what to expect from such an unknown organization and I certainly did not expect to find the girls that I have! Of course I have quite a few favorites but I won't list them all because that would make this post a lot longer than it is going to be already. Alexis, Lauren, and Deviyani are absolute darlings and I am so incredibly grateful that my sorority brought them into my life. My big is the best big on the face of the planet and I love her so much and now I get to live near her and her sister who is also amazing! Kayla is probably one of the best friends I have ever had in my life when you look at things on paper. We balance each other out and we don't put up with nonsense from each other and I am so incredibly thankful to have her help in a few weeks!

Then you get to Catherine. In the beginning, I wasn't quite sure what to think of Catherine. She seemed queit and like she had a "type" for her friends but I was obviously wrong. I don't quite know when we started to hang out and I don't know how we became such fast friends but we did and I am so overwhelmed about thinking about much I am going to miss her in a few weeks. When she graduated and we did senior fly ups for her class, I was choking back tears talking about her in my send of speech. What was I going to do without her?? And then I managed to get through my semesters, graduate, and come home. We've seen each other and had girl time and giggles and nonsense at least once a week since. She's like family! It is so easy to be friends with someone who has nothing but honesty and light and every other personality trait with a positive connotation!!

There are people that you meet in your life who change it and Catherine is definitely one of those people for me. I've learned so many things just from being friends with her. I can't wait to continue to learn things from her and see what life has to bring this amazing human being :)


 

It's Interview Day

Which means it is also big/little bonding time and apparently time to go to Halloween Horror Nights.

UPDATE:

The interview was stressful. BUT I ACTUALLY MET A SISTER IN THE PROCESS!! My sorority is so very small that I didn't think this would even be something that could happen but it did! Her name is Laura and she is the  great grand Big of my Big's biological sister! Crazy!!

UPDATE 2:

HHN WAS TERRIFYINGLY FUN! Michael Myers tried to kill (with both his house wait times and his knife) and we weren't able to do the  Walking Dead house because I'm so tired but it was fun.

National Friendship Day

Was apparently today and that is pretty nifty because I got to see Kayla today ( italian and ice cream are apparently our thing) and I got to have a nearly 2 hour, impromptu conversation with my Biggles because she loves me and she's perfect.

Take adventures were really the highlight of my day considering I slept for 14 hours after falling asleep last night and then I went to work today and it was super busy. I am not sure why but my head has been pounding all day and no about of food or rest has helped. I guess it is on to medication. Woo.

I luckily I have tomorrow and Tuesday off so I will be doing some productive things tomorrow and then  hopefully I will be Busch Gardens-ing it up with Catherine and Co for Suzy Tuesday!

Seeing My Sisters

You can tell how good of friends you are if you can fail to see each other for extended periods of time and have the day feel like no time has passed. Today I was able to experience that when I got a text message from Kayla and her Little Shayna about how they were in town and wanted to know if I was free. My immediate response was: "OF COURSE I'M FREE SAVE ME FROM MY BOREDOM I MISS YOUUUU FRIIIEENNDDSSSS" however, my typed response was "YES! I just got out of work."

I love these girls, I really do. Kayla and I have been through some crazy adventures and Shayna is just a bubble of awesome that you cannot help but love. They are amazing people to have in your life and I am so privileged to call them my sisters and to have been able to spend a few ours with them today.

Road Trip Time!!

Today started at 7am and ended about 30 minutes ago.

You see, today was grad school information session day at UCF and I was lucky enough to have wonderful, amazing Catherine agree to take me a the way out there and back! I was also lucky enough to have an amazing leadership team at the store to work with who got  me out of work early so that I could go! Thank you so much!!

The meeting was very helpful and it will give me a leg up in the interview process if I make it that far. It also gave the opportunity to see the campus and learn about staff.

I also got to see my wonderful Biggles today as well!! Catherine, Alex, and I were able to join her for a yummy dinner and four hours of giggles.

Make Up Day

Because plans had to be canceled yesterday, I ended up meeting Catherine today at the mall and then we went and did stuff starting with her allergist appointment. As she as said in her blog, she's allergic to everything and her appointment today was to further possible treatment of that. Afterwards we went to her house and played with possible makeup looks for her brother's wedding. She wanted to brighten her eyes so we eventually decided on a neutral base with some blue accent to bring put the brown in her eyes. Then it was off to Ulta to pick up some lip and eye products that she needed to complete the look. Its going to look awesome!

She made us some yummy mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli for dinner and then we watched The Heat (WINDOW BLANKETS!!!) and played Just Dance!!

Girl time with Catherine is always fun, mostly because she's just so full of liveliness and gumption. You can't NOT have fun with her. It's not humanly possible.

Picture retrieved from this website but their opinions are entirely their own:

http://kikiandtea.com/2013/02/does-

makeup-feed-our-insecurities/

The Same Name

In the last three days I have had the pleasure of working with on of my old managers again and he was kind enough to ask me about my life and school. He even remembered how I used to joke about writing a book to tell my story and asked me if I had started writing yet. Of course I haven't but I did start this. This is kind of like my life story  right? 

Anyway, today I met a little girl named Kaitlin spelled exactly the way I spell mine and we bonded over this. I helped her find some gifts for her little sister and then we bonded some more over our love of singing, dancing, and Rapunzel. We are the same person. 

After work I got an Olaf doll for a sister and then I headed home to see if my sister was going to go to this block party thing she was invited to. I was invited to go out with Catherine and Alex and their friend Aaron but I was never sure if my sister was actually going to go to the party so I wasn't able to. It's okay though, hopefully I can go out with Catherine and Alex AND BRANDI to a place where you can ride a mechanical bull!

"The Child Hamster"

So, after trying on my new work costume, I was lucky enough to spend today with the beautiful Catherine and her boyfriend Alex as well as their furbabies. They collected me from the mall and then we went to a dog park here in Tampa so that their dog Penny could run around. Afterwards we dropped Penny off at home where Catherine also gave me some graduation presents!

One of them was this nifty little organizational calendar that I am sure is going to come in handy if I get accepted in to grad school so that is helpful. The other is pictures below and is one of a quite a few things that she has hand painted for me :) 

We then went to Macaroni Grill which was delicious (consumed so much food; sooooo manyyyy carrrbbbsss) and where we may or may not have been charged due to a technical difficulty they were experiencing. While we were there, I put my purse on the floor and asked Catherine to make sure I didn't leave it. Alex then suggested that I "put it in the child hamster behind you" referring to the highchair. It was perfect. 

Linner was followed by movies and video games at Catherine and Alex's apartment. Girl bonding is essential to life so I'm glad to have gotten to spend the day with her (and her furbabies) catching up!!

Today was also the day that Hunter Hayes' new album was available for download. Life is good.

Two of Three

I will have to go back and post a picture of my second "graduation" certificate when I am no longer at the library studying for a 7:30 AM final (WHY DOES THIS EXIST???) but that is what I did today.

I woke up, went to my Stress and Resilience professor to look over some PowerPoints for my test tomorrow, and then I went to get lunch with my BIGGGGLLLEESSSS!! She was in town to help out her sister (Ya'll know Brianna) and we all got to get Panera before she had to go back home. Afterwards, I said goodbye to Brandi who moved out of her dorm (suck it Smith) and went home for the summer. While that was not the last time that I will see Brandi, it might be the last time I see her in Tallahassee. Oh my goosssshhh.

The day ended with me running home, changing into my graduation regalia and then attending this ceremony called the Rite of A-rak-ke-ce-tv which is a Seminole Creek word meaning "to honor." Because I was involved with some many organizations on campus, I was given the opportunity to participate in this ceremony and receive a special, tribal graduation stole.


Now to learn four chapters of Stress and Resilience, review for five thousand hours, take my final final exam and then complete my third (and final) graduation ceremony. It's been real.

Last Family Outing

This week is almost over which means I'm that much closer to being finished with my undergraduate career. *Humongous sigh*

That being said, tonight was my last family dinner with my sorority family and all my littles were in attendance which means so much to me. I also went over to some sisters' apartment for one of our final venting session. I'm going to miss everyone so incredibly much I really don't know what I'm going to do. 

Very Potter Saturdays

If you haven't already seen A Very Potter Musical I suggest you do so. Especially if you have a group of awesome individuals who can appreciate its creative and artistic genius (i.e. laugh hysterically). That's what I did with my Saturday. AND THEY BROUGHT ICE CREAM.

GRE and Meatballs

Last night I went out with some friends and sisters and ended up losing my house keys. Go me.

This morning (afternoon) I woke up to a text from a sister who invited me over for pizza and to hang out while I did GRE math prep.

WHICH by the way is the most miserable thing any one can ever participate in. I hate math. I hate math prep. No. But pizza was fun. We watched Disney movies while ate and while I did GRE work. Around 4:30 I decided that I needed spaghetti and meatballs in my life so we went to the store, found meatballs, invited one of my sister's friends over and had spaghetti and meatballs. Yay.

My Final Formal

LSeeing as this is my final spring semester, it was also my final formal with my sorority which is bittersweet. 

Am I excited to be leaving this town? Yes. To infinity, yes. Do I want to leave this girls? No. Absolutely not. I lived for dances in high school and I won two awards for dances at formal. I'm going to miss these events and the people who put them on. Oh goodness.

Oh My Goodness

Remember how I talked about getting sick? Well that happened in full force today. Cough, feeling like death, sneezing. All of it. I hate this. I hate this so much. Because I felt so gross I had to miss my test and now I'm a day behind in some crafting and some assignments.

On the upside, my sorority initiated 10 new sisters. Since lining ya'll

Pretty Normal Day

Today was full of school and work. And then food. 

I've been practically living at one of my sisters' houses since Monday because it is easier to get to my internship and to campus. She took me to my morning class today which starts the long trek of Mondays and Wednesday. Afterward I go to my work study job and then to another class. Today I ended up skipping the second class to make an early dinner with a friend of mine. He ended up making all of it but I did learn how to make breaded steak!! 

A nap and a meeting took place sometime between food and this post which is taking place before studying at the sister's house. Yep.

Another DM Post

Except this time with pictures!!! Kate and I decided to make Dance Marathon shirts and that is what mine looks like! We knew there wasn't a point in getting shirts made and our shirts will be way more entertaining and heartfelt than anyone else's.

We are also responsible for making some signage for our organization in support of ourselves and DM! WOO!!

Yellow Brick Road

The main reason this post is called "Yellow Brick Road" is because I can't get Hunter Hayes' cover of Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" out of my head. It was released today/last night at midnight and I've been listening to it nonstop. 

The post's title actually does have some relevance though. DM is in three days and today Kate and I had our all dancer meeting in order to prepare for the event and then we started getting all of the necessary items!!! We started our journey down this yellow brick road around two month ago and now our emerald city is three days away. 

I know I've posted so much about DM but if you haven't experienced it, there's no way to explain why it is such a big deal. Just trust me and my judgement. It's amazing. 

Getting Out There

After around two weeks of planning, my sisters, some other friends, and I were finally able to hold our birthday party for the kids at the homeless coalition! I was really surprised that as many people came out to help with it as they did. I honestly got the impression that no one really wanted to participate so if you're reading this and you helped, thank you again so incredibly much.

I loved being able to see the kids as happy as they were and know that for even two minutes they didn't have to worry about anything. The kids and their parents didn't need to provide anything other than a fun attitude and willingness to participate. Helping makes me happy. Seeing other people happy makes me happy. Today was a good day.

AFTER the birthday party, I went with two of my sisters to Panera and then we played Just Dance. The video that now exists of one of my sisters and I trying to dance to "Careless Whisper" is kind of the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

Climbing All Around

Today was full of sisterhood bonding activities and exploring canyons in Georgia! Even though my team didn't win  the sorority Olympics today was still tons and tons of fun! There was plenty of physical exertion and laughter as well as singing. Have I mentioned the copious amounts of pictures? No? 

Well, pictures are a fairly common thing in my sorority. Every retreat we take group pictures and class pictures and individual pictures. Of course there are the pictures that are snapped during events and the candids as well as all of the pictures every individual sister or Nu took of each other/ the canyon. 

Overall it was a successful, final sisterhood retreat and I am glad to have had the opportunity to visit Alabama and Georgia. Now to get back to school and choreography and preparing for real life.

Ready for Retreat

After a really rough week of being super sick and then working on our dance choreography for our talent act, I am really excited to be in Alabama for sisterhood retreat with my sorority :)

Tonight is more about getting settled in and then doing sister bonding activities. So, seven other girls and myself are currently sitting around, playing games, singing and watching Disney movies. This is how we roll.