Baby, It’s Cold Outside

It’s been awhile since my last post, but that’s just because it has been a crazy last few weeks!! December started off with my last few chapter visits to Iota Delta in Oklahoma and Sigma in Iowa City, both great visits. On December 9, all of the ELCs and the LCs and the rest of the Member Services staff all headed back to Indianapolis to finish up our semester and for the end-of-the-year celebration. It was so great to be back together with everyone!! We had a blast hanging out, shopping, going out in downtown Indianapolis and Broad Ripple. I love these girls and it was so great to spend almost a week with them!

After almost a week in Indy, I headed home for “break,” which has been pretty busy and fun. I’ve been picking up a few hours at the Copper YMCA, staying at Kim’s house and hanging out with friends and family in Lincoln and Omaha. Christmas was so much fun and it was so great to just be with my family and friends! The Christmas festivities began on December 23 with a Cheesy Sweater party at Andy and LeAnna’s, with all of my friends from Gross. On December 24 the Krysl family got together for Kolene’s birthday, we then went to church and then to my Grandma and Grandpa Krysl’s house for a fun filled night, which included playing Cranium! We had a blast! We spend Christmas day at my Grandma Padilla’s with the Matis family! The day consisted of eating Grandma’s special spaghetti, playing Cranium, opening gifts and just hanging out.

I spent December 26th and 27th in Gothenburg, NE for one of my best friend’s wedding! Helen and Josh Cool were married on December 27, and I had the privilege and honor of being a bridesmaid!! They are a great couple and their wedding was very beautiful and the reception was so much fun!! It was great to be reunited with my Alpha Xi Delta sisters and dancing the night away! I came home on Sunday, December 28, but I headed back to Lincoln to spend the night at the Pair’s, since I was working in Lincoln the next day. It was so nice to hangout and catch up with Kim! On Monday night I headed to Platt River State Park with all of my best friends from High School for a little vacation. We were there from December 29 to December 31, we just came back today. We spent two nights hanging out, playing games and cards, talking and laughing, and cooking for each other. It was so nice to be all together again!!

I just can’t believe it is already December 31, 2008!! This year has flown by and has been truly life-changing. I hope you have a fabulous and safe night! Happy New Year!!! See ya in 2009!!

Love,
Em

So Thankful!

On this Thanksgiving Day I feel very blessed. I have so many things to be thankful for. Here is my list (in no particular order):

1. I am thankful for my family, who love me unconditionally, who are there for me through the good times and the bad, who support me and guide me each and everyday. I love them so much and they make my life complete.

2. I am thankful for my faith. My faith is what guides me, grounds me and gives me hope. I thank the Lord for giving me life, and all of the gifts I am thankful for.

3. I am thankful for my un-biological family, my friends, from every walk of life. They are there for me when I need them, they laugh with me, cry with me and have given me a million awesome memories, and the good times just keep coming. 

4. I am thankful for my Alpha Xi Delta sisters and for Alpha Xi Delta, who have inspired me to realize my potential. I am thankful for my Rho Chapter sisters and for my Alpha Xi friends across the country. I am so thankful that I have been given the opportunity to be an Educational Leadership Consultant. I love my job. I have grown so much from this experience and I've learned so much about myself. I have made friendships that will last a lifetime.

5. I am thankful for technology. It keeps me connected with those that I love, it puts the world at my finger tips.

6. I am thankful for my education and my right to vote and I am thankful for the women who paved the way and fought for both. 

7. I am thankful for my YMCA family and for everything I've learned from working there. I am thankful for Kim, for hiring me and for letting me stay at her house all the time. 

8. I am thankful for the heartaches and pain, for it is part of life, it makes us stronger and it teaches us how to truly live in the moment and appreciate the good things in life. There would be no good, with out the bad; no sunshine, without the rain.

I am thankful for all of this, and much more. I hope you have much to be thankful for. May you and your family have a happy Thanksgiving!

All my love,

Emmy

Back in the Midwest!

I was sent to visit our Alpha Xi Delta Chapter at Kansas State University from November 12 to November 16. I had a great time working with the women in the chapter. They had a bouquet of purple roses, a card and snacks waiting in the guest room for me when I arrived. I had so much fun getting to know the sisters in the chapter!! One sister, Megan, actually took me to the football game on Saturday, when the Kansas State Wildcats played my Nebraska Cornhuskers. I had a blast! It was so cool to be close to my own team!

Megan and her boyfriend had to leave the game after the first half, so I watched the second half of the game with my second cousins, Jimmy, Bob and Justin. Jimmy and Bob graduated from K- State and Justin is Bob’s son, who is a senior at Kansas University. It was so great to see them. After the game, Jimmy and Bob took us around Manhattan for a little bit, as they reminisced about their life in college. It was fun. We attempted to spell KSU in the photo below and realized later that I did the K backwards and Justin did the S backwards! We had a good laugh.

While in Kansas I was also able to meet up with two of my chapter sisters, Dana and Heather, for dinner, in Kansas City. It was so great to see them both and catch up with them. I miss them!

I headed to Omaha for about 24 hours. I had originally taken vacation to go to the Celine Dion concert, but she had to reschedule it for February, because she is sick. It was nice to have a day off and see my family. Mom and Dad came home and ate lunch with me and Stefanie. We had a family dinner (minus Ryan) and then a few of my friends from high school, Lauren, Alysa and LeAnna, came over to sit in my family’s hot tub with me. It was freezing outside, so sitting in the hot tub was perfect! We sat in the hot tub for 2 hours, laughing, talking and catching up. We are planning on doing it again next Wednesday, when I am home for Thanksgiving!!

Sweet November

It's officially November and I am in Pennsylvania enjoying the last few nice days of fall. The Political Election maybe over, but officer elections within the chapters are just getting started, and I am doing what I can to help guide chapters through the process. I am still pretty busy with one- on- one meetings, executive and chapter meetings, but I have had a little more time to do fun things with the chapters I have been visiting.

After leaving Purdue, I headed to the University of Iowa to visit the sisters of Sigma Chapter. I was at the University of Iowa for Halloween. My sister was kind of worried that I wouldn’t do anything fun for Halloween, but a few of the sisters of Sigma took me out to dinner at the Olive Garden and then to a movie, The Duchess. We had a great time! One of my Associate Directors, Jen, came to Iowa City for a few days, to help with officer elections, so it was great to spend time with her. Overall the visit was very successful and a lot of fun!! These women are so sweet and it was a great way to spend Halloween weekend!

The flights were very expensive to fly out of Iowa, so I ended up taking a half day to drive to Omaha and I was able to fly out of Omaha the next day. It was nice to spend a few hours at home. I was able to hang out with Mom, Stef and Colin, eat a home- cooked meal, do laundry, and re- pack and lighten my traveling load, and sleep in my own bed. Mom, Stef and I were able spend an hour in the new family hot tub!

Right now I am at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, visiting the sisters of Iota Mu. I love it here! It is so pretty and the women in the chapter are so sweet! Last night a few of the sisters took me downtown for the First Fridays event. We met up with a few of their friends, Ryan and Mark. We walked around to all of the little shops and art galleries and did “tourist-y” things. We ended up at a new Five & Dime Diner, and we spent a few hours just laughing and talking. After we left the diner we went over to the apartment and played Catch Phrase. I had a blast with these girls! Megan, the chapter’s Area Facilitator, came up to Lycoming for the day to also help with officer elections. I actually worked with Megan this summer at one of The Workouts. She traveled as an ELC during the 2006-2007 school year and worked with many of the chapters I am working with now. We went to lunch with the president and then to dinner with a few of the chapter members. It was to so great to see Megan again and spend the day working with her!!

That’s another great thing about this job- all of the amazing sisters I get to meet and all the friends I have been making along the way!

Homecoming at Purdue!

I was just at Purdue for the past week, which was the end of homecoming week. It was so much fun. On Friday night I went to the Parade. A few of the Alpha Xi Deltas participated in the parade, dressed as the 1967 Rose Bowl Cheerleaders. They looked great. The chapter president, Alissa, was on homecoming court. She looked like she was having a lot of fun. It was cold out, but it was still a lot of fun to watch the parade.

After the parade, everyone headed to the outdoor arena for the pep rally. They marching band at Purdue is awesome, and we listened to them play a few songs before all of the big announcements were made. Alissa did not win Queen, but Alpha Xi Delta won overall! Out of all the fraternities and sororities on campus (about 60 of them), Alpha Xi Delta won the window decorating, had the most members participate in the blood drive, they were the only chapter to participate in the parade and so they won Spirit Week. It was very exciting!! I am so proud of them and for all of their hard work.

On Saturday, the chapter had Alumnae Day lunch in honor of Homecoming. After lunch, I spent the afternoon with a few of the chapter sisters painting 58 pumpkins for all of the other fraternities and sororities. We had so much fun! Then we went out to eat at Triple XXX, a famous restaurant that has been featured on the Food Network!

On Sunday, the chapter held a flag football tournament, Fuzzie Football, to raise money for a local children’s hospital. They had an awesome turn out, with close to 30 fraternities participating in the football tournament. The craziest part was that they did not have enough referees show up. They asked me to help out by keeping time and marking the line during every play. Ok, I did run the Dodge Ball and Other Ball Games Club during that first year I worked at the Y, but being the referee for a middle school flag football game is A LOT different then helping out with a college flag football game. It was intense when one of the games went into over time, 4 times, but the guys said I did a good job, and I had a lot of fun. We were at the football fields for 7 hours! Needless to say, I was a little wind burned the next day.

The rest of the week was great. I met with all the officers over the course of the week and did a program with the chapter on Values- based confrontation and effective communication. It was a very successful visit.

At the moment, I am on a plane headed to the University of Iowa. I am pretty excited for this visit. I will be there for a week and I will be assisting the chapter with their officer elections.

Everything is going pretty well. I know I keep saying this, but I cannot believe how fast time is flying by! It is almost November, and I feel like it was just last week when I was hanging out with my sister at Papio Bay trying to get a tan!
I hope you are all doing well, and that you’re staying warm! I miss you all. Have a great Halloween and I’ll see you in a few weeks!

All my love,

EK

Lessons Learned

I am more than half way through my first semester travels as an ELC! I am still loving it! Right now I am in West Virginia at West Liberty State College. It is so beautiful here! I literally up in the mountains and the leaves are all changing colors. Fall has always been my favorite season and being here just makes me love it more! When I walk outside it just smells like fall, so crisp and fresh. It’s a combination of the dry leaves and campfires, I just love it.

Anyway, I just wanted to give you all a little update of where I will be headed in the next few weeks. I meant to do that originally, but I forgot, so here it is:
Purdue University- October 22 to October 29
University of Iowa- October 29 to November 5
Lycoming College-November 5 to November 9
Slippery Rock- November 9 to November 12
Kansas State- November 12 to November 16
Omaha for the Concert- November 16 to November 18
Purdue University- November 18 to November 24
Thanksgiving Break in Omaha- November 24 to December 1
University of Central Oklahoma- December 1 to December 6
University of Iowa- December 6 to December 10
Fraternity Headquarters in Indianapolis- December 10 to December 14
Christmas Break in Omaha- December 14 to January 3, 2009

So, I went back and read my very first post. In it, I wrote about how I was excited about how much my life would change and all of the things I would learn over the next year. Well, I’m not even a year in, but I have already learned so much. I’ve come up with a list:

1. You can (and will if you have to) wash a few essential clothing items in a sink. My Grandma gave me these little laundry detergent packets made specifically to soak clothing in the sink. I honestly did not think I would ever need them, but last night I came to the realization that I have not been able to do laundry in a while, so I put those little sink packets to work! Thanks Grandma, they were a lifesaver!

2. Even if you are not a very good navigator and driver, you can become one! I did not realize I would be doing as much driving as I have been. I’ve never been the best driver, but let me tell you, I’ve had to improve my driving and navigational skills. Having a cell phone with internet access to mapquest.com and Google Maps has come in handy! Now I love driving! I get to see more and I get a little me time on the way.

3. Don’t take stores like Wal- Mart and Target for granted! Contrary to popular belief, not every town has one or the other, and when you are in the middle of nowhere or feeling homesick, walking into a Wal- Mart or Taget can make you feel like you are right in your hometown! I’m not sure if it’s because they are all set up the same, if it’s the smell or the people, but regardless, I always love when I can make a stop to one of these stores!

4. Even with all of this amazing technology, nothing can beat the thrill of getting actual handwritten mail. Being on the road, I tend to pick up my mail whenever I go through Indianapolis, so when I get my mail, I have a big pile of it. Everytime I go through my pile I get that same thrill I get on Christmas morning! I love it!

5. Plane rides can be considered a time to catch up on things such as sleep or reports. It can also be a great place to network. I was on a flight from Cedar Rapids, IA and I met the director of the education department at the University of Northern Iowa. He told me to contact him when I am applying to teaching jobs!

6. If you roll up your clothing really tight and pack lots of ligfht weight clothing, you can pretty much fit an entire closets worth of clothing into your suitcase! It is possible! I’ve also learned that Downey’s Wrinkle Release is one of the best inventions in the world! I may never need to iron again!

7. The easiest way to rev- up the same wardrobe is to accessories! I never thought I would appreciate a scarf, cute shoes, tights and jewelry the way I do now!

8. The best way to handle a stressful day is to do one of the following: call a fellow ELC/ LC to vent, call mom to vent, call Stef to vent or just listen to Carrie Underwood’s Lessons Learned or other inspiring songs! I’ve just learned to not sweat the small stuff and laugh about the crazy/ stressful stuff, after all, it’s all part of the adventure!

9. Never be afraid to try something new! Sometimes the best food you’ll ever eat is from the sketchiest looking restaurant in town!

10. The ones we love are never too far! I carry everyone’s love and support with me wherever I go, and I know you’re all just a phone call away! Thanks for all of your love and support!!

Where has the time gone?

I can not believe it is already the first of October! Where has time gone? I can’t believe I haven’t updated this blog in almost a month! I will say that life on the road makes time fly by! I am working in a new place every four days, so every four days I get to see new things, meet new people and do new things! I love it!

Since I last wrote I’ve done a lot! I left Purdue and headed to Wright State College in Dayton, Ohio. I rented a car and drove there from Indianapolis. Normally I fly everywhere, which I don’t mind, but I really enjoy driving! At Wright State, I met with all of the officers. They are really great women, and I really enjoyed working with them. After a few days at Wright State, I loaded up the rental car and headed to Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, for their first weekend of recruitment. From Ohio University, I once again loaded up the rental and headed to West Liberty College in West Virginia. Ohio and West Virginia are such beautiful places! (It probably wasn’t the safest idea, but I was taking pictures out my window the whole time!) West Liberty is a beautiful little school up in the mountains. It was great to be there and help them out. I also had my teeth cleaned, because one of the women in the chapter is a Dental Hygiene major and she needed a patient at the last minute, so that was kind of cool! After a few days at West Liberty, I drove back to Ohio University for their second weekend of recruitment. They did a great job and they worked very hard! I have really enjoyed working with all of these chapters and in the next few months I will go back and visit them all again!

On Monday, September 22, I turned 22 years old. I also loaded up my rental car one last time, and drove almost five hours back to Indianapolis so that I could go to Purdue. When I got to Purdue I found that I had birthday cards from my family and a few of the girls in the chapter. That was very cool. I had a meeting with a few of the officers. At about 10:00 PM, Heather and Laura drove all the way from the Illinois, so I could spend my birthday with them. They brought me a card and balloons! We got a little lost in the country, so we headed back and went to Taco Bell and then a coffee shop for dessert! It was great to be able to see them! I spent the rest of the week assisting the chapter with CORing and meeting with the officers.

On Friday, I headed back to Omaha for a few days of vacation. I had a busy weekend, but it was great because I got to see a lot of people I’ve really missed! My dad picked me up from the airport at 10:00 AM and we rushed home so that I could get to my 11:00 AM haircut appointment. From there I went to my Grandma Padilla’s house so we could go out to lunch and go birthday shopping (something that we always used to do when we were little kids and now we’ve started doing it again!). I had a great time! Grandma and I had a lot of fun picking out outfits and walking around the mall. After that I met up with Kim, my boss at the Cooper Y (and life mentor and AXiD sister) for the last three years, so we could catch up on life. We ended up going to Stein Mart to do a little shopping, and we ended up buying matching jackets! It was so great to see her and hang out with her! Heck, I saw Kim almost everyday for the last few years, so it was good to catch up! Then on Friday night my friends Liz, Beth and Anita came in from Lincoln and we spent a few hours at Old Chicago hanging out and catching up. On Saturday, Beth and I got up really early and went to Lincoln for the Husker game. We hung out with some of her friends and tailgated, then we went to my family’s tailgate. We had a blast! It was just like the old days. Helen, Adam Hansen, Gilroy, Paul H, Sara, Ryan & Bryan all came to hang out. My Grandpa, Uncle Doug, my parents, the Katchems and a bunch of other family friends were all there. It was so great to spend the whole afternoon getting ready for the game. There was actually a mechanical Bull station next door to the tailgate. When Beth, Helen and I first arrived at the Krysl tailgate I said, I should ride that bull. After a few hours I finally worked up enough courage to ride the bull! I didn’t last very long, but I did it and it was fun. Soon after Beth decided she would ride it, then my sister, Stef, gave it a try, then Gilory and Hansen both rode the bull. It was pretty awesome!Even though the Huskers lost the game, my Stef and I had so much fun watching it and hanging out together during the game. It was weird for me because that was my first game as anAlum, meaning I was not standing the entire game in the student section. It kind of made me a little sad. But I still had a great time. After the game I went out with Helen, Beth and some of the guys who will be in Josh and Helen’s wedding (Beth and I are also in the wedding). We had a great time. Sunday was just as busy as the rest of the weekend! I sang at church. Then my mom and I met up with Andrea, Molly, Cathy and Linda for lunch. It was so great to see them all again and spend a few hours talking about life! Then I met up with my friend Shaun for coffee. We worked together as counselors at the Y four years ago, but we still always manage to keep in touch and talk about life. After hanging out with Shaun, I went home for a family party, to celebrate my Grandma’s 81st birthday, my cousin Jayme’s 12th birthday and my 22nd birthday. It was so nice to be able to hang out with almost all of my family!! Then Grandma Krysl, Grandma Padilla, my mom, Stef and I watched the season premier of Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. I haven’t been able to do that in a long time, so it was nice to be able to do that. I had so much fun being home and seeing everyone!

Right now I am at the University of Central Oklahoma. This is where my good friend and fellow ELC, Winter, is from. It is so cool to be staying at her chapter and getting to work with her chapter sisters. These women have been so nice! I’ve been meeting with the officers and helping them with a little “pomping” for the homecoming float. (Pomping is when you take tissue paper and stick it through the holes of chicken wire, just so you know in case you didn’t.) I leave tomorrow and head to the University of Iowa. I will be helping them with their sisterhood retreat, which I am so pumped about! I love sisterhood retreats!

That’s about it for now! I will try to keep up with this more, so it doesn’t have to be so long the next time! I love you and miss you all!

I Heart Recruitment!

I must say that one of my favorite things about being an ELC is that I get to live and breathe recruitment all the time! I absolutely love recruitment, the singing, the cheering, finding the perfect outfits, the hard work and dedication that goes into all of the preparations, and the bonding that naturally happens when all of the sisters are working together. When I was a undergraduate, I really enjoyed meeting the potential new members and getting to know them over the course of the week, and I loved Bid Day and meeting all of my new sisters! This is probably why I was the Membership Vic President my junior year and part of the reason why I wanted to be an ELC. I love working with chapters to prepare for formal recruitment and supporting them during the formal recruitment process.

One night last week, I was able to talk to my “little sis,” Ellen, who is now the president of Rho Chapter. The year that I was Membership VP, she and Casey were my Continuous Open Recruitment Chairs. The year after I was MVP, Ellen became the MVP, and this year, Ellen is the President and Casey is the MVP! They are both such great leaders for the chapter and they really are helping the chapter to grow and move in the right direction. I am very proud of them. Talking to Ellen made me miss my sisters at 1619 R Street, so I just wanted to say “I love you all, keep up the good work ladies!”

I left the Illinois on Thursday, August 28, and I headed back to Purdue for the first weekend of formal recruitment. The open house round of recruitment at Purdue started last Friday night at 7:00 PM, which was after a long day of classes. The sisters of Purdue did awesome all weekend- they sang their hearts out, they looked beautiful and they worked so hard! The slideshow was so cute and well put together. The skit was hilarious and the set looked amazing! The ladies in the skit were so dedicated and they worked so hard and it really showed! I could not stop laughing!

On Tuesday, September 3, I left Purdue and headed University of Iowa. For me, the University of Iowa feels a lot like home. I was there to assist with their informal recruitment events. Tuesday night we played miniature golf, Wednesday night the sisters hosted a Xi Soda Shop event and on Thursday night they hosted a Luau. It was so great to meet many of the new members and spend more time getting to know the sisters of Sigma chapter. During the day I spent time meeting with all of the executive officers, and I also met with the Greek advisor and the chapter advisor. It was so great to see all of them again!! I had a great time and we got a lot accomplished!

Phi Delta Theta is one of the Fraternities coming back to the University of Iowa, and my friend Keith is the consultant stationed there to help with the colonization of the chapter, so on Thursday night, I was able to have dinner with him and another Phi Delta Theta consultant, Joe.
I headed back to Purdue on Friday, September 5, to help with the second weekend of formal recruitment. It went very well! We made quota!! I am so proud of these women!! We are getting ready for our bid night! It is Xis in the City! I will have to post pictures!
Each day I feel blessed to be doing what I am doing. I am meeting amazing Alpha Xi Deltas, from all over the country. The sisters I meet continue to inspire me to realize my potential, and I believe I am helping them do the same.

Greetings from the University of Illinois!

Work week went very well at Purdue! The girls worked very hard and made me feel very comfortable in their home! I am headed back to Purdue on Thursday and I will be there pretty much until September 8. Right now I am staying with one of the other ELCs, Heather, at her apartment at the University of Illinois. She is heading up the re-colonization efforts here.

We are re- colonizing our Kappa Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta. This is very exciting. We are coming back to the University of Illinois and starting a chapter from the ground up. This means we are working to recruit 150 freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors to be a part of Alpha Xi Delta. This is very exciting and I am honored to be a part of such an exciting task!

Laura, one of the other ELCs, and I have been staying with Heather since last Friday. Over the past weekend, we did a lot of PR work for Kappa. We spent most of Saturday hanging up signs in local businesses, to get the word out about an Alpha Xi Delta open house event. On Sunday, we participated in Quad Day. Quad Day is a huge event here at U of I. It is basically the time for every campus organization to get their name out there and recruit like crazy. There were thousands of students there, and we met a lot of potential new members. It was awesome. We were there from noon to 4:30 PM, so I got nice a sunburned, which I was not upset about, because I figured it might just be my last "sun tan" of the summer! : )

We also spent a lot of time this weekend baking cookies and putting together goodie bags for the Fraternities on campus. As part of our PR and recruitment efforts, we are delivering “We 'heart' ΑΞΔ” yard signs, informational flyers & cookies to the Fraternities on campus. The sororities have already been displaying the yard signs and they will continue to do so during formal recruitment. The Fraternities have also started to proudly display their yard signs as well. We delivered many of them tonight and we will deliver the rest of them tomorrow night!

The Greek community on this campus is amazing and incredibly supportive! It is very cool! We’ve met a lot of sorority and fraternity men who are very excited about Alpha Xi Delta and are eager to help us recruit in any way they can. It is so awesome to be exposed to such a unified Greek community!

It’s Been Awhile…

Hello everyone! As I write this I am sitting in the airport in Chicago. I left Omaha this morning at 5:40, and I am headed to Purdue University in Indiana. I will be staying at Purdue during their Recruitment Work Week. I am very excited!

The past few weeks have been busy! Here’s what has been going on…

We headed to Atlanta, Georgia for a few days of training with my boss Elysia, and Gretchen, our Director of Membership Growth. Then, our entire ELC team road tripped it to Auburn University in Alabama to help the chapter prepare for recruitment.

While at Auburn I had the opportunity to put my “concentration in Fine Arts” and my theater background to use because Winter and I were put in charge of working on the skit. We “spiced up” the script with some humor, we offered ideas, suggestions and helped the women feel more confident in making it their own. We also insisted that every person in the chapter would participate in the skit in some way, and they did! Laura, Sam and Samantha were the “detail divas” (I just made that title up by the way), but they helped the women put together their costumes and worked with the dancers to perfect the dances. Everyone worked so hard and even though I was not able to see the final product, everyone who did see it said it was a success!
Auburn’s recruitment went very well. I am so proud of the women in that chapter. They have an amazing sisterhood and dedicated members and their hard work paid off! They made Quota, which is a HUGE deal! I am so happy to have been a part of that experience.

I was the first ELC to leave the bunch and head out on my own. On Tuesday, August 12, I headed to the University of Iowa, Sigma chapter, to work with them during their Recruitment Work Week. The women in the chapter really made me feel welcome. As much as I did enjoy the South, it was nice to be back in the Midwest. Iowa feels a lot like Nebraska, and I never thought I would ever say this, but it was nice to see wide open corn fields! I had a lot of fun working with the Sigma chapter! They did a great job working hard and keeping positive attitudes. They also really impressed me with their singing abilities! I am excited to go back and visit them again!

On Friday, August 15, I headed home for my graduation from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. I was coming from Iowa City, so I rented a car to make the trip. They ended up giving me a very awesome sports car, a Grand AM G-6. Silver, with leather seats and a sun roof, I pretty much felt like a rockstar driving that home! Saturday was a lot of fun! Even though I’ve been done with classes for a few months, going through the graduation ceremony made it all feel real. The ceremony went very quick, only an hour and forty minutes. Afterwards, we went out to lunch at Old Chicago, and Kim and her family met us their. Kim was my boss at the YMCA for three years. She was not only my boss, but she is a good friend, mentor and an Alpha Xi Delta sister! Her and her husband, Ben, and their kids, Mason and Alyssa, were like my second family this summer, and they let me stay at their house! So it was really great that they were able to hang out with us.

I was also very lucky because I was able to spend a lot of time with my grandparents this weekend. They came to my graduation, to my house that night and then to my mom and Caleb’s birthday. I am so lucky to have such supportive and loving grandparents and I wouldn’t trade them for the world! I am so lucky to have such a loving a supportive family! I love you all! I also want to say thank you to my parents for getting me through college. It means more to me than I could ever explain.

On Sunday, I was able to go to church with the family. Afterwards, my mom and I went to lunch with Andrea. It was great to catch up! After lunch we stopped my the Matis house. Jayme and Mary Beth had made a cut out of my face, which they took with them on the family vacation to Okoboji! When we stopped by their house last night, Jamie had made me a book of all of the places “I went” in Okoboji. It was pretty cute. It felt good to know that even though I was not able to physically be there, I was their in spirit and they took me with them the whole time. After the stop at the Matis house, we went over to Juli and Dave’s for Caleb and my mom’s birthday party. It was a busy weekend, but it was so nice to be home and to spend some time with the people I love!

I really love my job and I am so glad I have been given this opportunity. I learning a lot and building skills that I know I will use as a teacher. I am not the same girl who left Omaha on July 13. I am still Emmalie, but I feel so much stronger, more independent and confident. I had never done anything like this on my own. I have always depended on others, which I not a bad thing at all, but I had no idea how to be independent and depend on myself. In fact, the idea scared me. I have always been a happy person, but now, a lot of my happiness has to come from within myself. I have learned how to stand on my own two feet. I have the love and support from the people I love, and I carry that with me, everywhere I go, but I am now also carrying a stronger sense of self. I have to think for myself, think quick and make decision on my own. It is the strangest feeling to try and describe. I have always believe that God let’s everything happen for a reason, and I realize how true that is more and more, each and everyday.

Training in Indy is Coming to an End...

I can not believe it, but I haven’t updated this blog in over a week! We’ve been so busy! Here’s what I’ve been up to…

On Monday, July 21, we ended up going to that baseball game with all of the Greek consultants and ended up having an amazing time! We met a lot of consultants and made a lot of new friends. After the game, most of the consultants ended up at Broad Ripple to dance the night away. We had a great time, but the ride home was kind of scary because it was raining so hard, we felt like we were in a hurricane! Heather, who happens to be from Florida, was the driver and she did a great job getting us home safely!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we had training with Jen, our AD for the Midwest Territory. We learned a lot of great information. Thursday, we all loaded the car and “road tripped it” for four hours, to St. Louis, for the Volunteer Leadership Conference, or VLC, as it is called. VLC was a great opportunity for us to meet many of the volunteers for our organization. We were able to meet the National President and the members of National Council, and meet a few past ELCs. We also listened to very inspiring speakers, including Ginny Carroll, who is a product of our vision and an inspiration for all of us. We did work a lot during the conference, we helped with set up, clean up, registration, running errands, taking a few trips to the airport, and wrapping over 200 gifts. It was pretty cool to be so involved with everything, we kept saying we feel like Lauren and Hedi on the Hills! Our first night in St. Louis, our director, Elysia, and Jen, the AD who lives in St. Louis, planned an outing for our entire Member Services Team. We went to the St. Louis Arch and went out for dinner. We had a blast and it was a great way for us all to connect face to face, since we all work from different locations all over the country.
We were at VLC until Sunday. On Sunday, we drove back to Indianapolis. The Leadership Coaches, Mary and Margaret, road back with us, so we were able to spend more time getting to know them.

This past week has been all about workshops and conferences! On Monday and Tuesday, we attended Risk Management on the Road, a conference for consultants of all the women’s’ fraternities and sororities. We learned a lot during this conference about how to stay safe while traveling, how to handle any risk management issues we will encounter, and tips from second year consultants. It was very cool. On Wednesday and Thursday, we participated in How to Wow, which was a two day workshop on how to design and facilitate programs, workshops and retreats, when we are visiting chapters. It was VERY helpful, and we all are feeling a little more confident about this part of our job. Today, we will be going into the office for training a 1:00, so we are taking the morning to work on homework and pack. We will be doing a lot of that tomorrow as well. On Sunday, we will head to Atlanta for more training with Elysia, and Gretchen. Then on August 6, we will head down to Auburn. After that I will go to the University of Iowa, then home for graduation, then on the 18 I will head to Purdue, and then from Purdue to the University of Illinois, until the 28. I don’t know, yet, where I will be headed after that. My focus chapters this year will be the University of Iowa (which is driving distance from Omaha) and Purdue, so I am very excited about that.

The other exciting happening of this past week, was the Greek Consultant Social Event, Flip Flops & Friends, which we planned and hosted. For this event, we invited all of the other consultants in the area for paddle boating at the White River Canal in downtown Indianapolis. It was a beautiful location, and we provided snacks, lemonade, music and free paddle boating. We had a great turn out and a beautiful night!

Tonight, Sam’s parents are coming in town, and it is her mom’s 50th birthday, so we are going to go to dinner with them. This weekend we will be working on homework, packing, laying out at the pool and celebrating our last weekend (for a while), all together, in Indy.

I hope you are all doing well and I will see you in a few weeks!
Much Love!
Em

Lovin' Indy!

I just finished my first week of training here in Indianapolis. I have been learning a lot. Our first project was all about event planning. We are putting together a social event for all of the 2008-2009 Greek Consultants, so that has been a lot of fun. We have spent a lot of time going over information, officer training, presentation and public relations information, it is all very cool. Nights are pretty low key, we cook dinner for one another, work on "homework," hang out by the pool, or watch "So You Think You Can Dance." Friday night we went out in downtown Indianapolis, which was a lot of fun! Yesterday, we went shopping at the mall. We went to Forever 21 and then the Forever 21 accessories store, For Love 21! We spent a few hours at the mall, mostly just at those two stores! We had a great time. Last night, we got dressed up and went to Broad Ripple. We danced the night away. I am really bonding with the other ELCs, we are all becoming really great friends! Tonight, we are going to the fair with some fraternity consultants, so that should be a lot of fun! Tomorrow night, we are going to a baseball games with all of the Greek Consultants. We are busy ladies! We get our laptops on Tuesday, so I will be updating the blog more often, and sending emails to everyone! Talk to you soon!

Tomorrow is the big day!

Well, this past week has been kind of crazy. Not only have I been shopping for the stuff I will need and packing, but I have been spending a lot of time with all the people I will miss while I am on the road.

On Sunday, the Padilla side had professional pictures taken and then we went out for lunch. On Monday night, we celebrated my dad's birthday and had the Krysl side over for cheesecake and presents. On Tuesday, my cousin, Jayme, stayed the night with my sister and me. Then on Wednesday the three of us and my cousins, Kayla and Kenzie, spent the day swimming at Papio Bay. On Thursday, Stef and I spent most of the day cleaning and re-arranging our room, then on Thursday night, I hosted a "Last- Bonfire- of- the- Summer" party, and had a bunch of friends over to hang out and catch up. We had a lot of fun, and ended up sitting outside by the fire for a long time. On Friday, Stef, mom and I, went to the spa for pedicures, which was quite the adventure! After that, Stef and I went to Papio Bay, since it was the hottest day of the summer, and we wanted to work on our tans! Later that night, I went out with my family for dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. We had a lot of fun, and it made us think of our trip to Hawaii. Next year we are going to go on another tropical family vacation, I can't wait! Saturday, I spent most of the day finishing up packing, then I had my haircut. I figured that since my life is changing a lot right now, I needed a new hair do! I really like it, and it’s a lot different, plus it is really easy to style. After the haircut, I went over to Amy & Larry’s to spend some time with the Bursick/Meyer/ Kilawee clan!

Tomorrow is the big day! I fly out of Omaha at 4:00 PM! I am feeling excited and nervous all at once! I am very ready to start this next chapter in my life. I know that this experience will make me stronger and more independent. I have always been pretty dependent on the people I love, which is not a bad thing, but I also feel that it is important for me to learn how to stand on my own two feet. Carrie Underwood said it best when she sang, “sometimes moving on with the rest of your life, starts with goodbye.” I have definitely had to say a lot of goodbyes this week, but I know these goodbyes are not forever, and that the people I love are just a phone call/ plane ride away. I know I will be just fine, and I am excited to see who I become throughout the course of this next year!

The Packing Begins...

The packing starts now. Yesterday, I went and bought everything I could think of that I might need while living out of a suitcase. Today, I started making a list of all the outfits I want to bring. I also figured out what I will need in my "office on the go" bag... a file organizer, my planner, journal, address book, business card file, a book to read, my scrapbook, and some other stuff. I can't believe that I will be leaving in less than a week.

I am also spending some time with family before I go. Last night, we had the family over for my dad's birthday, and today Aunt Kolene, Stef and I went and saw Sex in the City. My cousin Jayme is spending the night with us tonight because the three of us will be going to Papio Bay for the whole day, tomorrow. I am pretty excited.