Post-Initiation

Initiation was so great! I am so glad I joined such a great sorority full of amazing girls. The actual initiation process is a secret, so I can't blog about it. But, what happens afterwords is not so here goes!
After we are initiated, we give our bigs the paddles we made them. Amanda loved hers! The bigs also have great gifts for their littles, it was like Christmas we were spoiled so much! Amanda got me two sweatshirts with our letters embroidered on them, and an embroidered shirt. I also got two "Go Greek" shirts. She decorated a glass jar and filled it with candy for me, and bought me two big boxes of sour patch kids because she knew thats my favorite candy. She gave me a picture frame with a picture of us in it, and photo-cube which had pictures of us on all four sides. I got a panda key-chain, an AOII bulletin board that she made for me, and even panda socks and  a panda note-pad! My two favorite gifts were the hand painted wooden letters that she decorated for me, and my Rose Book. Many bigs make their little a Rose Book, which is like a scrapbook. It is filled with pictures of us, a family tree, and lots of information about our sorority, including songs and information about our founders. I love it because I know how long scrapbooking can take and its such a special gift. I am so happy to wear my letters now and to have such a wonderful big!

Genre Writing

Our latest project in class is to write something in a different genre. My genre is children's books, and I'm actually excited to write one! I went to Waldo Library the other day to get a few examples of children's stories. I got the books Harold and the Purple Crayon (a Classic), Olivia the Pig, and Bella and Bean. I tried to chose books that had a little variety, I didn't want to get all Dr. Seuss, for example, because I didn't think that would give me enough variety. There were tons of books to choose from, and I could have spent much longer in there than I did! I didn't even know that a campus library would have children's books, but they have a great selection for kids to go and look through.
I think I chose a genre that will be easy for me to write, because I like children's books. My mom always used to read to me and my siblings, and I think it absolutely had a positive effect on us. I think it made us all better readers and writers because she spent so much time reading with us.

Crochet like Crazy!

I have a new obsession. I love to crochet.
I've been spending almost all my free time making scarves and hats and now I am starting a light blue fuzzy blanket. My Grandma taught me how to do a few different stitches, my personal favorite is the double crochet. This stitch works for basically any project you could try to attempt. More basic stitches are the single and triple crochets. I also learned how to make a wave pattern and made a small blanket using that.
The best kinds of yarn to use are the thicker ones, or at least thats my preference. They are also going to be warmer if you make a hat/scarf/etc. The reason it is easier to crochet with thicker yarns is because then you are less likely to split the yarn.
I also learned how to make a crochet flower via youtube. If you are looking to start up crocheting or knitting, check out youtube! There are excellent videos that take you step by step through the motions of even basic stitches for beginners. It is a great way to pick up a new hobby. The flower turned out very well and I attached it to a blue and beige headband I made.

I'm making most of these for gifts, and I know everyone will love them because they are home-made.

Initiation

Friday of this week is a big day! It's my initiation into my sorority, AOII. We will have a ceremony friday night and then we are going out to dinner afterwards at Red Robbins (Yumm!). I'm very excited to become a member and learn all the secrets of my house. This week leading up to it is known as Alpha Week, and we have fun events going on each night. Monday was craft night, we had a movie night, and other fun things are going on through out the week. Unfortunately, I have a very busy week and can't attend all of our events. That's okay though, because there will be lots of fun things coming up such as formal that I can look forward to!

For initiation we wear all white outfits, and the new members all made paddles for their big sisters. Decorating the paddles was so much fun! My big used to play basketball, so I made hers orange with basketball stickers on it.

I also really cannot wait to go out to dinner, I'm tired of cafeteria food! Red Robbins has the best french fries and milkshakes. 

This is the paddle I decorated for my big! She will hang it on her wall after I give it to her along with other paddles she's received. After I took this picture, I also added a glitter boarder inside the pearls. It just gave it a more finished look. 

MEME

AWE

Alternate Winter Experience (AWE) is an organization at WMU that takes students on volunteer trips around America to help out different causes. The trip opportunities range from animals, children, elderly, refugees, disaster relief, and terminal illness patients to name a few. I just had a meeting today where I found out what trip I was going on, where that trip would be going, and who would be in my group. My group is going to Athens, Georgia to work with the elderly. I can't wait! As a CNA I love working with elderly people, and the temperatures in Georgia should be a nice change from December in Michigan. Each group goes somewhere else, and they rent vans with stow-and-go storage underneath. We will take turns driving the 13 hours to Athens, and we will be staying at a church. Because we are being generously housed in a church, my group is all girls. There will be six of us total, including our two group leaders. I can't wait to go and make a difference! Especially since it is the week before Christmas. What better way to spread Holiday spirit?

5 more weeks!

Yay! Yay! Yay! Only five more weeks of classes and I will be done with my first semester of college. Two more weeks until Thanksgiving break, (Which I'm PUMPED for! Delicious food yumyum) and then after that is the home stretch until Christmas break. This semester flew by, but I'm glad. I can't wait to start taking classes that aren't general pre-req's, full of students who still don't care even though they are at a university. I can't wait to start taking classes that will be about nursing, even though they are going to be a lot harder!
First, I have to meet with my advisor to fix my schedule. Since freshmen make their schedules last, and by ABC order, I had very few options. I took what I could take but couldn't even get into my Biology class, which is super important! I'm bummed out to say the least... I hope my advisor can help me out! If not I'm going to be busting my butt at community college this summer.