30 Day Photo Challenge- Day 2

Day 2- A Picture of You and the Person You've Been Closest With the Longest

Someone once said that the best thing about having a sister is that we always have a friend. I met my sister, Stefanie, when I was 18 months old. In many ways we are a lot a like and in many ways we are totally different. We fight together, we laugh together, we cry together. We have heart to hearts about anything and everything. I try to protect her, I've bossed her around, I've been too motherly, but she's my baby sister, what can I say! We've gone through the agony of cleaning our room together at least 100 times, we've spent countless nights keeping each other safe when we were afraid of the dark and countless hours playing house, school and anything else our immaginations came up with. There is a home video from the day I went to the hosptial when Stef was born. In the video, I was sitting on Grandpa's lap and holding Stefanie with him. I just kept running my hand over her head and kissing her. I kept saying she was "my baby," because she was my baby sister. Since that day Stef has become the person I've been the closest with the longest, one of my best friends who will always understand me and love me for me, and I will always be the same for her.

Love you sis!

30 Day Photo Challenge- Day 1

Day 1- A Photo of Yourself with 10 Facts About You.

I picked this picture because it is one of the few non-posed photos of just me. I was laughing at my brothers who kept making fun of me trying to take a posed picture. This picture kind of explains me- I do things that people often tease me about, but I don't care, and I love to have fun and I love to laugh with them.

Now, my 10 facts in no particular order...

1. I have a strong faith in the Lord God above and I believe in the power of prayer.

2. My family & friends mean the world to me. I am who I am because of their part in my life. I am so lucky and blessed to be loved and to love them.

3. I love working with children. They make me smile and laugh, they make me stop and think and even those ones out there who give me a run for my money teach me something about myself- patience, understanding, empathy- they teach me things that help me grow.

4. I will never stop being an Alpha Xi Delta.

5. I love Chloe. She is my dog-child. She is the best little cuddle bug around. Dogs are a great example of unconditional love.

6. I love ladybugs, the color red and gerbera dasies. They all make me smile.

7. I love Dusty-D. He loves me for me, chooses to love me through the good and the bad. And even though he loves me just the way I am, I find myself wanting to be my best self because I am so supported and loved.

8. I am a hopeless romantic. Valentine's Day will always be a big deal to me. I will always love (writing and getting) love letters and cards. I love sappy movies and romantic comedies. I love love stories and love songs. To sum it all up- I love love.

9. I have terrible teeth. They look pretty, I brush 2 times a day and floss, but don't be fooled, I've had 6 root canals, several cavities and several crowns. The dentist assured me today I won't end up loosing all me teeth. Whew!

10. I am not a great cook, but I do love to cook and I am getting better. I love cooking with my Grandma's cook books and recipes.

My 10 Bests from 2010!

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Can you believe the first month of 2011 is already over? They say time flies when you are having fun, and 2010 was very fun for me and the year seemed to fly by. I have a feeling 2011 might be the same way. It makes you stop and realize we need to be thankful for the time and the moments we do have. Cherish the memories and the people we love for those are what shape who we are.

In honor of that thought, I wanted to take a second to just reflect on 2010 and my top 10 bests for which I am thankful! I even put together a little slideshow of some of my favorite photos.

My 10 Bests from 2010:

1. Becoming a homeowner! It was crazy and scary but I was able to buy a cute little house to call my own.

2. Family & Friend Time! Spending lots of quality time with family during our trips to Okoboji(twice), San Diego, Branched Oak, and Lawrence, Kansas for Jim & Heather’s wedding. I love my family, I love our adventures and our sillyness they make my life joyful! A girls weekend in Kansas City, a few girls nights at my new house, nights out in Omaha and Lincoln, and a Western Nebraska Winery tour and stay at the Cool Family Farm made for one awesome year with friends as well. Can’t wait for all of the adventures of 2011!

3. Checking off the Lincoln ½ Marathon from my list of things to do before I turn 25! I plan on participating again this year just to improve my time!!

4. Being a Bridesmaid times 2! Being a part of two weddings. Two of my best friends Matt and Amanda were married on May 29, 2010 and one of my best friends, Anita, married Jeff on August 7, 2010! Both were beautiful weddings and I was so happy to be a part of them! I also loved the bachelorette parties and showers leading up to the weddings because we all had so much fun- good times with great friends. Looking forward to being a bridesmaid in Alysa’s wedding and to the other weddings in 2011!

5. Alpha Xi Delta Sisterhood! Volunteering for Alpha Xi Delta at a National level in 2010 was really a treat because I was able to work with two of my best friends, Winter and Laura, who were both ELCs with me when I traveled in 2008-2009. Winter and I spent some time in Lincoln/Manhattan Kansas and La and I spent some time in Indianapolis. It was also awesome to work with the lovely ladies of Alpha Eta at Purdue University. I spent a great deal of time working with their chapter when I was an ELC, and so it was great to spend time working with them this past fall. I was also appointed to be the Chapter Advisor for my own Alpha Xi Delta’s Rho Chapter when my Chapter Advisor, Becky, was appointed to be the National Recruitment Director. It was a very exciting change and opportunity for both of us! I am loving it and have been thankful for the opportunity so far!

6. Chloe turned 1! My baby/puppy, Chloe girl, turned 1 this summer and in September we celebrated her being in my life for 1 year! Chloe is the best little dog in my life and I am so thankful she is in my life!

7. Celebrating birthdays and the holidays with my family and friends was another best of 2010. Between the family get togethers, birthday parties, Thanksgivings and Christmas celebrations with family and the holiday dinner party with friends, my heart was filled with many great memories that I will cherish for years to come!

8. The birth of my best friend’s daughter Brooklyn! I had so much fun throwing a baby shower for Liz and Brooklyn this summer and have had even more fun when I get to play with little Brooklyn! She is such a cute, beautiful miracle! My cousin, Jared, and his wife, Andrea, also had a beautiful baby girl, Addi, who is so sweet! Love them both!!

9.The last Husker football season in the Big 12! We won some, we lost some. I tailgated for almost every home game and Dana and I cheered loud in Manhattan, Kansas when we took on the Wildcats one last time. Go Big Red! Looking forward to our first season in the Big 10!

10. I saved one of the best for last, but my favorite part of 2010 was meeting and falling in love with the man of my dreams, Dustin Wilcox. We went on our first date on August 4 and it’s crazy how much he’s changed my life. I am crazy about that boy and he is crazy about me! We are so excited for our first entire year together and for all of the adventures that await us!

I plan to savor my "bests" from 2011 and I hope you will too! I wish you are yours a very happy and healthy 2011!

Love,

Free picture collage created with Smilebox

Catching up with some updates on life!

Hello friends!

I can't believe that Christmas will be here at the end of the week! So much has happened in the past few months, so here's a little update....


This summer was packed with Alpha Xi Delta-ness, recruitments and Chapter Advisor duties, bridesmaid duties and two amazing weddings, bachlorette parties/wedding showers for the friends who were married, girls weekends with friends, a few memorable family trips, getting settled into my house AND going on a first date with a wonderful guy who I am happy to report has now been my boyfriend for 4 months.


Dustin and I went on our first date on August 4 and our second date on August 9. Because I had a few trips for AXiD in August and Dustin ended up getting really sick at the end of August/begining of September, we did not go on our third date until September 18. We had only texted eachother and talked on the phone a few times in the weeks between the second and third date, but for whatever reason, we clicked on the third date and we both knew we wanted to spend as much time together as we could from that point on.


We both feel very lucky that we ended up together. He tells me I am the prefect person for him and I know he is the perfect person for me. The past few months have been great and I am praying that they will just keep getting better! I feel like I am the luckiest girl in the world!


This fall has been pretty busy too! Dustin and I have spent a great deal of time together on the weekends. He lives and works in a town 45 minutes from where I live and work, and any free time we've had we've tried to spend getting to know one another and each other's family and friends. We've gone to Husker games, the Eric Church concert in Kearney, Arlington and Freemont, Omaha for a Nighthawks game, a few movies and out to dinner a few times. We spent Thanksgiving together too! We are looking forward to spending this Christmas together too!


Things at work are good, still loving my job and the people I work with. Working with the sorority as the Chapter Advisor has been great as well, I am learning a lot and growing, which is good!



I hope you are all well!!


Lots of Love,

3 Ideas for a Fabulous Friday

TGIF, right? Almost all of us LOVE Fridays, but I’ve made a little list of how you can take your Friday to the next level- 3 Ideas for a Fabulous Friday and I plan on doing all 3 today!

1. 5 minutes of Fun! Start the day off right by taking 5 minutes in the morning to just have fun. Sing you heart out in the shower, dance while you dry your hair, sip hot chocolate or coffee while reading the paper, the point is to just take 5 minutes for yourself.

2. Breathe Deep. Take 5 minutes to breathe deep, in through your nose and out through your mouth. In elementary and middle school our school counselor came in once a month to do meditation and relaxation exercises with us, and this was one of the things she had us do. Worked great every time.

3. Invite someone over for a nice dinner and crack open a bottle of your favorite wine. Sip it slowly over while engaging in great conversation. Totally relaxing and totally fun!

Hello!

Hi! After a few months of no blogging, I am happy to be back! My good friend Helen who reads my blog when trying to pass the time, pointed out to me that it had been MO NTHS since my last post! Now with a new laptop where I can see the screen I am happy to report I am back!

I hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Love,

Exciting Changes!

Hello Friends!

It had been awhile! So much has happened in the last few months, it’s hard to believe that my last post was on April 7th! To give you a little update on what I’ve been up to, let me just fill you in on a few of the big things that have happened since my last post…

1. April 19, 2010- Crazy day and a day that ended in a way I never thought it would. Woke up that morning, had a crazy day at work, went to look at a house, really liked the house, made an offer on the house and they accept the offer! Totally unexpected, but the kind of snap decision that was totally worth it! This is Grandma and Grandpa Padilla’s anniversary and she came down that night to look at the house with my parents and me Mom looked at it online and just had a “really good feeling about this one!” and wanted to come down and see it in person, she knew Grandma would want to see it too. They both said it was meant to be and I totally agree!

2. May 9, 2010- I was officially appointed to be the Chapter Advisor for my chapter, the Rho Chapter, of Alpha Xi Delta at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. My advisor, Becky, has been our advisor for the last 8 years (I think it’s 8…) and she has recently been appointed to serve the National Fraternity as the National Recruitment Director for Alpha Xi Delta. Becky has done an outstanding job as our advisor and we would not be where we are today without her, and I know she will be amaXIng in her new role. She traveled for Alpha Xi Delta as an ELC after she graduated and she is who inspired me to go after the same thing, and I did and it worked out and I am so happy! Becky is very inspiring woman in my life and I am very honored to step into this new role as she steps into hers. I am very much looking forward to being the advisor and I am looking forward to all of the excitement and positive challenges I will face in this role. I am very excited to work with my chapter sisters and learn from them while teaching them.

3. May 27, 2010- Closed on my house. Buying a house is such a process, but I learned a lot. I am very thankful for supportive parents, a great real estate agent and a wonderful loan officer. They took the time to explain everything to me and help me through the process every step of the way.

4. May 31, 2010- Moved into my very first home. Thank God for my amazing Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Brother-Colin, Chase and my friends, Emily and Ben, who all helped with some or all of the following: cleaning, painting, yard work, moving out of and moving into, and unpacking. My Mom, Dad and Grandpa especially have spent almost every weekend at my house since I’ve moved, My Mom has been helping with cleaning, unpacking and organizing and Dad and Grandpa have been getting my yard in shape and teaching my how to use my lawn mower. Thanks to them my house was in great shape and ready to show off during a little house warming party my parents hosted at my new house on Saturday, June 12. It was a fun little party and I am very thankful for those that made the trip to Lincoln or just came over- Aunt Mary & Uncle Doug, Aunt Mary Beth & Jayme, Grandma & Aunti Gram, Grandma & Grandpa, Stef & Chase, Liz & Peter, Emily, Mom, Dad, Colin- THANK YOU for coming & love you!

4. June 7, 2010- The very first day of the summer day camp program that I am in charge of, and the first- first day ever at our branch (we just opened in September 2009) and it was a great day! The number of kids we have enrolled varies from week to week, but we have nearly 130 kids in most of the weeks. I have a pretty strong staff and we LOVE our kids! We are having a blast. I am putting in VERY long days at work, but it is totally worth it when the kids run to me with a big hug and tell me how much they love being in our program- those moments make all the stressful stuff kind of just fade away.

5. June 15, 2010- My 1 year anniversary working full-time in my position. My first job after I graduated was traveling for Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity as an Educational Leadership Consultant, but the position only went from July 2008 to April 2009, and it was an amazing experience that definitely prepared me for the position I am in now, however it was very different from my job as a Program Director. In my first year as a Program Director I have learned so much and I have been given some very amazing opportunities. I was able to be a part of opening a facility and starting our before and after school programs, youth programs and child care programs from the ground up, hiring staff, working with other directors and making changes and improvements as we grow and learn. I am very thankful that I have a job where I can go to my boss and be completely open and honest with him and he offers genuine support and feedback. I am very thankful that I have a job where I can learn from and collaborate with other talented, smart and caring people who are not afraid to share their ideas and allow me to do the same. I am thankful for my “rockstars” who help keep me sane and make my job so much easier because they just “get” me and know how to take initiative and help get things done. But most of all, I am thankful that I have the opportunity to work with, care for and teach children, both hands on and through the programs that we offer. I feel blessed that I can make a difference in their lives and that they are able to make a difference in mine.

Anyway, that’s about it. Sorry for the long absence and I will be checking back more often now that my internet is all hooked up and working in my house and things are settling down at work!

Thanks for stopping by!

Love,