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!