Deep in the Heart: Grand Convention 2013



View from the 38th floor of the Sheraton Dallas hotel!



"Deep in my heart, I love my ADPi"

 

Coming from a less vocally gifted chapter, as we'll call them (still love ya Alpha Theta girls, don't worry 'bout it!), this was an oft-sung ADPi chant that I was not familiar with this past week. But oh, was it appropriate! First of course it fit the theme for ADPi's 162nd Anniversary Grand Convention, and second I must say that after my six days spent deep in the heart of Texas in Dallas, Alpha Delta Pi snuck its way even deeper into my heart. As if anyone thought that could be possible.

 

I was definitely a bit nervous as I de-boarded my plane at DFW airport, ready to meet my consultant sisters who I had only thoroughly creeped upon on Facebook - yeahhhh we all did it, it's ok. Luckily it ended up that the lovely Miss Logan Sparks was also on my shuttle, so we were able to brake the ice on the ride to the hotel. Once there we ran into 3 other sisters - Morgan, Caroline, and Grace. After finding our rooms and dropping off our things all the 2013-2014 Leadership Consultants were finally united and I was able to meet Lauren, Haley, Katherine, Courtney (though we already knew one another :)), and the next day Katie, but I'll include her here now for simplicity's sake.

 

Our very first LC hug train! (A sorority girl staple).
From left to right: Caroline, Morgan, Katie, Lauren, Katherine, yours truly, Haley, Logan, Grace, and Courtney.

 

The convention itself was a whirlwind of introductions, songs, long-standing traditions, awards, important sorority business and a whole lot of ADPi lovin'. The Grand Council for the next biennium was selected, and they are as follows:

 International President – Tammie S. Pinkston

International VP of Collegiate Membership – Stacy DeMartini Bruton

International VP of Collegiate Membership – Jan Maisch

International VP of Alumnae Membership – Renee Bailey Iacona

International VP of Communications – Jennifer Siler

International VP of Finance – Emily Erkel

International VP of Organizational Relations – Sandy McDonald Davis

 

 

Highlights of the week for me personally were Friday morning's 'Get Fit with the Foundation' Zumba session, breakin' it down doing the Wobble with hundreds of sisters and specifically Grand President Tammie Pinkston at the Texas Dance Party that night (do you sense a theme? I looove to move), and finally the panel discussion on Higher Education and Greek Life on Saturday afternoon. I loved hearing the perspective of qualified Greek Life professionals across the country, some sisters and others exciting guests such as Jean Mrasek, incoming NPC Conference Chairman. I'm hoping to explore the world of Higher Education throughout my travels in the coming year, so I'll certainly be keeping you all posted on my journey through that.

 

Now that I'm back on the Best Coast after a long but exciting week, I'm ready for some time to de-brief, as well as plan and pack for the amazing year ahead. The final and perhaps most meaningful part of the week was that I got my Violet sister - much like Diamond sisters but specifically a past consultant mentor. I was blessed to be matched with the amazing Brittany Walker, who graced Alpha Theta with her presence this past Spring right before my final interview and has been supporting me ever since.

 

Lovin' my new Vi - and so excited to join the Vinasty!

 

 

Only three short weeks until I'm jet-settin' to Atlanta and reunited with my sisters and new friends. Until then, I will enjoy the summer that has finally reached the PNW. Sunshine and summer time!



Oh, the places you'll go

I'll be honest with you all - I've been a little mopey lately. Not because things have been terrible, more so because they've been the exact opposite. Life has been awesome,  recently. This is mostly due to Alpha Delta Pi, because if you know me at all you know that my sorority basically is my life; and school-life, work-life, and anything remotely responsible-life have all gone to the wayside. I mean senioritis is to be expected at this point, right?

This glorious Seattle weather probably has had much to do with my good mood lately. It has been HOT these past two weeks (we're talking 80s - this is absolutely unheard of for Seattle). It's been so hot, in fact, that my chapter sister Katie and I decided to get a little creative on Monday night. Here's what we did:



I'd just like to add that this picture got 90+ likes on Facebook. Can you say celebs?!

That would be the ADPi courtyard. Katie came it to my room at about 11 o'clock with the mischievous look that after four years I have learned always means fun, and asked if I wanted to sleep in the courtyard with her. Never one to shy away from an adventure I eagerly agreed and we proceed to take (read: throw) our mattresses down the stairs from the third floor. I must say it was one of the better nights of sleep I've had in awhile.

 

And that is only one of the fun memories I've been making lately! This past Saturday the Alpha Theta chapter of Alpha Delta Pi held it's second annual Lions Share Challenge Golf Tournament, organized by none other than my fabulous little diamond sis, Ally Patt. I'll be frank and say no one was sure if we were going to pull the event off, but in the final week the chapter came together to secure full sponsorship and attendance at the event and ended up raising over 11,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities, about 5,000 above our goal. I cannot even begin to explain how proud I am of my chapter and especially the sister I get to call my little diamond, for all the hard work and dedication put into this event.

Ally with the clipboard I made her for the event -
Every event-planner needs a customized clipboard, amiright?

 

Throw what you know. Then add a bow.

 





Some of my lovely AC '09 ladies and I reppin' Hole 8
 



After the golf tournament Saturday there were Cinco de Mayo festivities with many of my favorite people, and then on Sunday morning my most favorite person rolled in to town: my mom! That afternoon was the annual ADPi Mother-Daughter Luncheon, and since we're an out of state family my mom and I had decided that she'd make the event twice - Freshmen and Senior year. Hard to believe that the two years in between have already come and gone! After lunch and pictures the seniors were honored with a slideshow highlighting each of us (thanks for the blast from the past photos - the Homecoming picture with my painfully awkward high school boyfriend probably could have been left out though, haha). Inspiring the title of the post, we were each given a copy of Dr. Suess's book Oh, The Places You'll Go filled with notes and well-wishes from sisters.

 

 



 

Oh, the places I'll go indeed. But more on that in a second.

 

Finally, as if the weekend wasn't good enough, half way through chapter in the stuffy chapter room the doors flew open and two officers jumped in screaming. Which caused me to scream, too. Jeez Kashia. We were surprised with an impromptu trip to the beach! With a few minutes to change into our cutest ADPi apparel (my roommate Megan and I got to our room and said woefully - 'But which letter shirt do I wear?!' #TSM) we piled onto two school buses and were brought to Golden Gardens in Ballard where a fire-pit and s'mores makings were waiting. We then, of course, proceeded to have a twenty minute photo shoot (more #TSM).

 

Seattle finally gets a cool beach shot!

Ally and I again. LML :)


 So, while all of these happenings have been more than great, I can't seem to get rid of that nagging feeling that these are my last. Having my mom up here meant talk of graduation, moving, and plans (over margs, of course. That helped a little). I feel like I've been cruising through college for the past four years, but now the gas pedal is stuck and I can't seem to slow down fast enough to take it all in. I've built a life in this city, and now it's time to start all over again - because Oh, the places I'll go!

"You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.

About some you will say, 'I don't choose to go there.'

With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,

you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any

you'll want to go down.

In that case, of course,

you'll head straight out of town."

 

 

Ain't that the truth. June 16th, straight out of town I'll go. I'm coming to terms with it, I suppose.

 

 

"...you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So . . . get on your way!" 











My city's FILTHY

As the sun is finally showing itself in Seattle (it does happen, I promise) I'm beginning to realize just how much I'm going to miss this place when I leave in a few short months. My life is changing in a BIG way, and while I'm excited for what's ahead I can't help but feel nostalgic about what I'm leaving behind. I've started making a list of the Seattle must-dos that I need accomplish before I leave, and here's what I have so far - suggestions (and accomplices) are also appreciated!

- go to Dick's Drive-In for a vanilla milkshake
- run to Gas Works on a sunny day
- paddle board on Lake Union
- visit the Fremont Troll
- canoe at the WAC, possibly jump off the arboretum...
- go Pike Place Market and walk through the WHOLE thing
- try a new flavor of Molly Moon's
- see a sunrise at Alki beach (and don't sprain my foot this time)
- go to at least one more M's game. Pray that they win.
- drink my weight in coffee before I have to ship off to places where Starbucks isn't native tongue
- ride the ferry
- visit the UW columns by myself
- see a really great concert

...needless to say, I've got a lot to accomplish this quarter. Good thing I've got a full-fledged case of Senioritis on my side to enable me to do fun things all the time with minimal guilt ;)


Also, Mackelmore's latest music video from his new CD The Heist dropped today - as an adopted Seattleite I can't help but be proud of his success and appreciate his constant homage to this great city, while also feeling a liiiittlee bit entitled because I knew of him before it was 'cool'. That's probably just the hipster in me talking, though... Regardless, I hope that I can do something similar: venture off and make my own way, but always remember where I came from and those who made me who I am today.

"I got my city right behind me
If I fall, they got me."

In the Big Leagues

Well, here I am! This little miss has finally decided to stake her claim in the blog-a-sphere (is this a term? I'm not sure. You pro-bloggers will have to get my lingo up to par and STAT, please.) Regardless, I decided that if ever there was a time for me to chronologue my life, it would be now. A bit about me: I am a college senior at the beautiful University of Washington (GO DAWGS!) to be graduating in June, and I will be leaving here with a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Family Studies, Sociology, and a Dance minor. I'm originally from Portland, Oregon and yes, I have seen Portlandia and yes, it is accurate. I love the PNW (that's Pacific NorthWest for the non-hipster crowd), country music, my Jeep, running, working with children and constantly pursuing my relationship with Christ.

Why blog now, you may ask? Well, I just recently found out (one week ago today, actually.. but who's counting) that I will be spending the next year of my life traveling these grand United States as a Leadership Consultant for Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. With this being a chance of a lifetime and my post-grad dream job, I have laid ground for some permanent real estate on Cloud 9 ever since! And as it seems to be the thing to do when traveling, I decided it was probably time I invested myself in a blog to share this wild ride with all the folks back home - and all the new folks I meet along the way! I don't fully know what is in store for me, but I'm banking on tons of fun, some hilarious travel snafus,

(I digress: did you know that snafu is actually military slang for Situation Normal All F'ed Up? Learned that in a sociology class - college is good for something, I suppose!)

 

... a whole lot of Pi Lovin', self-reflection and unbelievable growth. I can't wait to embark in June, and I'm excited to share the experience with all of you. This isn't the minor leagues of college classes, nanny jobs and sorority fun - I'm in the big leagues now!