Life is good.

(From Top: Cerissa's Bridal Shower back in April. Me, Cole and Emma at Summerfest)

Its summertime, and as every collegeaged student knows, bring on the weddings! Today I'm going to Cerissa and Rodney's wedding. I'm very excited for them. Rissa led Chi Omega through the hardest time, and did all while being a great fiance. She and Rodney have been together for a long time and the wedding was the perfect way for them to finalize their relationship. I'm so excited for them to finally be married, and in addition to a great party tonight, I get to see those people I haven't seen all summer or for a longer time for that matter. Congrats Rissa and Rodney!

I've been shopping around for an apartment for the fall, and it's a little more pressure than I thought apartment shopping should be. I know that I want a dishwasher and to hopefully not live in an apartment, but a house. I know that I want my own room and decent rent prices. I feel like such an adult having to look for houses and compare features and prices. Sometimes it makes me want to never grow up, but then again, that's what we're supposed to do... grow up.

Things are going really well with the guy that I'm seeing. We have fun cooking dinner and going and scrapping up activities to do in Logan over the summer. It's a lot harder than you would think to come up with things to do when it's actually nice weather. We like to play frisbee in the parks. Since I work in the parks we've probably hit most of the good ones this summer which is branching out I guess. We went to the zoo the other day and last weekend we checked out Logan's Summerfest! Tomorrow we're meeting up at the Utah Arts Festival in Salt Lake. It's one of my favorite summer activities so I'm excited to go with him. It's great to have someone in my life to learn about and to do things with over the summer and hopefully longer.

For the most part, all is well in Logan for the summer. The weather is finally clearing up, I got sunburned at work this week, although thunder storms keep popping up somehow. I'm enjoying just having a job and friends to worry about rather than tests and schoolwork and everything else that comes with being a student.

JOB!

I finally found a job after about 6 weeks of brutal searching and more interviews than normal people should have in their whole lives. I applied for this job late april, which was too late for first time around hiring. But, my new boss called me a few weeks ago for an interview which I passed with flying colors. I had to have a background and drug test which I obviously passed and was then hired for the Laborer III position in the Parks and Recreation department of Logan City!

I've worked doing this kind of stuff before, so only the people and the way things are run are different to me, which is nice. I have a lot of experience and enjoy what I do. For the most part. The worst part is getting up at 6 a.m. to be at work on time every morning.

It's another Parks and Recreation job to put on my resume to match the nice Parks and Rec bachelors degree that I'm going to have soon enough. I'm always looking for a part-time afternoon/evening job so if you know of one in Logan - let me know!

Missing Chi Omega

Fall Formal 2008- Blackout!

Spring Formal 2008
Recruitment; Fall 2007

Spring Formal 2007

“To live constantly above snobbery of word or deed; to place scholarship before social obligations and character before appearances; to be, in the best sense, democratic rather than 'exclusive' and lovable rather than 'popular'; to work earnestly, to speak kindly, to act sincerely, to choose thoughtfully that course which occasion and conscience demand; to be womanly always; to be discouraged never; in a word, to be loyal under any and all circumstances to my Fraternity and her highest teachings and to have her welfare ever at heart that she may be a symphony of high purpose and helpfulness in which there is no discordant note."
Written by Ethel Switzer-Howard, 1904, Xi Chapter

Like I’ve said before, I'm living in a fraternity for the summer. You would think it would be smelly, lively and full of commotion - likewise, it’s quiet, monotonous and lonely. I thought that I would like living here, with my social lifestyle and genuine interest in people but the guys aren’t around as much as I had anticipated and people keep to themselves.

In a way, it’s nice because I’m not interested in entertaining a lot of various people, but I wish that I had someone here a lot of the time. I miss living in Chi Omega very much. My sisters were always interested in my love life, my busy schedule and at the very least what I was cooking. Chi Omega was a place for gossip, laughs, solitude, understanding, learning and so much more. It was a home, my home, and it brought me through many dark times in my life. I can’t explain what the sisterhood did for me. All my life I had wished for people who seemed to want to understand my life, dreams and goals and finally through Chi Omega I achieved that internal need. Those women helped me learn countless things about myself that I never would have learned. They contributed to my realization of religion, lifestyle choices, right and wrong, what ‘not’ to do and how to be happy. My sisters taught me about myself, about leading, teaching, loving, understanding and anticipating human action and reaction.

Chi Omega teaches and supports 6 purposes; Friendship, High Standards of Personnel, Scholarship, Community Service, Campus Activities, and Career Development. I met women who showed and taught me the real meaning of having friends. No matter what they are still my friends today, I’m invited to weddings, birthdays and just to hang out at their houses. I learned and sought to have high standards of integrity and good character. I strive for honesty and to be an example to younger women around campus and in my life, especially my little (blood) sisters. I have worked hard to get an average GPA which has been hard for me in college because of all the opportunities I have had for leadership and friendship, but Chi Omega taught me that I could have a social life as well as an academic life and that studying didn’t have to be boring or worthless. Everyone has something scholastic to add to my collection of knowledge, no matter their major. As an Alpha Gamma Chi Omega of Utah State I got to participate in the annual Chi Omega Halloween Carnival that we hosted for the community. Each club was invited to attend and host a booth and in addition to collecting food we also reached out to the community to donate money for the Make-A-Wish foundation. Our goal for Spring ’09 was to host an incredible service project to make enough money to grant a wish for a local child. Since I was a freshman I got to cheer on my sisters in the intramural bracket for flag football and soccer at the least. But, this last fall our team made it to the finals for the flag football championship. I was part of the team and I can’t tell you how exciting it was to be a part of the championship winning team! It had been a long time and it was so worth the practices and the hard work to finally be called the winners of the women’s league. Finally, to development my career interests we had speakers and each week we had a resume building tip. I know that in the long run I will have benefited from the networking and the relationships that the Greek community and my time in Chi Omega gave me.

Right now I’m just trying to find my place again. In Chi Omega I had found a place; I was working my way to being a serious leader in the organization. I had worked my hardest as treasurer to figure a budget that worked for each council member and position. I had given Monday afternoons to the Greek Council by establishing an honors society and by giving a few early mornings to the Student Advisory Board who worked with President Albrecht and as a contributing member of the Greek community. I strove to make friends with people from each fraternity and sorority so that I could stand up for them and be an advocate for the whole community. I still work to keep these bonds, but since the respect of Chi Omega as a whole has been lost, it’s hard to keep up these bonds as a professional.

After the Alpha Gamma chapter of Chi Omega closed on January 23, 2009 I put myself into STAB through USU. It was so hard to not have that support system to lean on. I didn’t know who I could go to and trust after we closed. I had close friends in other organizations but it wasn’t the same. I didn’t know who or how to talk to anyone, even my close friends and roommates. Even after a few months it was still hard to talk about it. Even today I want to avoid the subject because it just makes my heart hurt.

Chi Omega made my initial three college years more than I could have dreamed of. That organization taught me more about life that I ever wanted or could have hope for and for that I am so grateful, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t miss the opportunities that I had or could have had. I miss living with my sisters and the activities that we planned or didn’t plan but just had fun doing. I miss the crazy, late nights and the stupid reality TV marathons we would have. I wish we could still road trip to Salt Lake for a weekend night of fun or just going on campus causing mischief. I’m forever in debt to the organization I joined when I was a freshman that changed my outlook on Greeks, college and life in general.

“Chi Omega yours forever, loyal we will be, to our symphony and colors our fraternity. Rho, beta, upsilon, eta, sigma, bear your standards high. For our bond shall ne'r be broken, Chi Omega Chi.”

Solo Backpacking

So, I took my first backpacking trip of the summer last night. It was just a short hike, but far enough to get away from the sounds of Logan, but close enought to feel safe all by myself!

I got my pack all ready and drove up Green Canyon. I parked about 6 pm and headed up the canyon. I hiked for about 45 minutes to get as far as I could before there was no place that was flat enough to stay.

I unpacked my pots and stove and got some rice cooking and then I proceeded to build a fire. I got it started in about 5 minutes. I know, I'm cool like that. I could beat Cole in a fire building contest any day. Then the hardest part of the night was figuring out how to set up the bivy. (Bivy: A bivouac sack, also known as a bivy sack, bivi bag or just bivy, is an extremely lightweight, waterproof alternative to traditional tent systems.) It has two tent poles, a screen and a strap for the mat. Other than that I just took in the fresh air, listened to the thunder in Logan, read a magazine and wrote in my journal. It was so peaceful and gave me a lot of quite time to reflect on life right now.

When the sun started to set, I gathered more sticks and wood to burn into the night (I kept the fire going from about 7 until 10). I'll admit, once it got dark I got a little scared because I was alone and I was in the mountains. I slept until 9 this morning, which is unusual while camping, put all my things away and headed home. It was a successful trip and I can't wait to go again. This time though, I'll probably bring someone along because I kept wanting some interesting conversation.

Growing My Garden

So, to be blunt, I'm living in a fraternity house for the summer. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm going to be overwhelmed with the male sex or anything. I have a room and a bathroom and my best friend lives across the hall and we basically run the place because the boys are too lazy to. So far, it has been a lot of fun.

Anyway, to the good stuff. Being unemployed has made me gain a real appriciation for raw, fresh fruits and vegetables. Seeing as fruits take a long time to grow, I decided to plant a vegetable garden! I had been growing a cucumber from seed, but that didn't seem like enough for a legit garden. So, off to Lowes I went. I bought some lettuce seeds, a 6" tomato plant, and a 3" bell pepper plant. The garden people told me that peppers wouldn't grow in time so what the heck right?

Next was the hard part. I had to get permission to dig up the backyard for my 5x5 spot. Brian was really cautious until I showed him where and what I wanted to do. I dug it up, planted and watered my little plants. I felt kind of like the little red hen, doing all the work alone. Everyone will be sad by the time harvest comes around because I'm not going to share those tasty vegetables with anyone unless they helped. I figure the hours and $10 I spent initially will pay off near the end of the summer. Right now though, I wish I had so many veggies I didn't know what to do with them.

Finals

"With all thy getting, get understanding" Proverbs 4:7

This week has felt like the longest week of my life. I started studying for finals last Thursday and haven't stopped until today, although today is the most crucial. I took my ENVS final Tuesday morning, this morning I had ecology and tomorrow will be the final two. I should be studying for the Sociology of Race Class and Gender and the Asian American literature tests, but I need a break so here I am blogging.

I have enjoyed my classes this semester, but I think from now on I'm going to take it easy and do 12 credit semesters. ENVS 4130 has probably been the most challenging class I've taken in college. It was in combination with a graduate level class and the curriculum was intense. I wrote a 15 page research paper about Clean Energy Use in National Parks according to the Energy SmartPARKS Memorandum of Understanding. I put a lot of time and energy into the paper and it was well worth it - I managed a B+ grade. Now, I have to wait for the final grade.

Asian American Literature was a class I never expected to enjoy, and although the reading load was extreme, the curriculum was facinating. We talked about the dominant discource of communities, stereotypes of Asian Americans and what it means to be American. There was a lot of discussion about it, and no matter what was said, I'm proud to be an American.

My other classes were decent, but nothing to write home about. I'm just excited for the summer to be here, when I all have to worry about is going to my job (when it's found) and being with my friends. Here's to finishing the semester with a bang!!