ZTA 2010 National Convention

I am a Zeta Tau Alpha. I pledged back in 2003 and have been an active sister since I joined. Some people ask or wonder why I still do "that sorority thing" and it's hard to describe other than I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT! Well last week was The ZTA National/International Convention was in New Orleans, LA. I had never been to NOLA and my 2 ZTA sisters (one of those being my Big Sister and Best Friend) that are also advisers wanted to go. I went to convention in 2006 and loved it so another opportunity to go was awesome, plus I needed a break from "mommy duty".

Most of our time was consumed with meetings, luncheons, and dinners in our very nice hotel downtown. It was so nice to get dressed up every day and wear fun outfits with two friends that I don't get to see much because of our schedules. I took 10 dresses (plus an entire large suitcase) as well as 11 pairs of shoes...and I wore all of them except for the athletic shoes...we ended up just walking the town for exercise in flip flops. There was 896 ZTA's in that hotel PLUS A fraternity was having their convention the exact time we were - what a coincidence! Oh if I was in college and care free I might have...oh well I don't know...maybe it's best to not think about it :) With roughly 1,800 greeks in one place those elevators were always packed - we had to go down 29 flights of stairs one time because we could never catch a ride.

View from our hotel room to New Orleans Riverfront area

Wednesday

ThursdayCrown Chapter Night for Collegians - I wear my crown anytime there is a reason - I spent way too much on that thing for my wedding...it has been very useful!

Ritual Time! We initiated Tanya Snider, Wife of the NFL Washington RedSkins' owner

Friday

Think Pink Badge Attire Day

Checking out the ZTA Exhibit - chain of chapters #182 Theta Nu link

On Friday night we were presented with the CROWN CHAPTER award for our Alumnae Chapter - this was the first time Montgomery had ever won it so it was a BIG deal seeing as how the new leaders took over 2 years ago and within those 2 years we have almost tripled in size and have done all sorts of new things to get us noticed. Then IO surprised us all with a mini-concert by DJ $krilla and the ZTA-Epsilon Chapter Sprite Step Off Winners! Both performances were awesome! And then we went out that night to celebrate on Bourbon Street (see my Disclaimer below about what I think about this city).

Night out on Bourbon Street

SaturdayMardi Gras Night

Sunday

So now I am back from convention and I'm still on my "Zeta High". It's kind of like when you come back from Christian camp and you are so on fire for God except this is with ZTA. Not to say I'm not on fire for God...because I am. I had such a great time with my two friends and would not change anything in the world for the opportunity to be with them at convention!

My Disclaimer:I have to say that New Orleans is disgusting and scary and I don't know why anyone would go there for a vacation. It smelled like throw up and urine everywhere we went... and if it smelled like it then you knew it was near by and I almost stepped it when we were out seeing the "beautiful city" - that is what the people from there call it! Beautiful! Maybe one or two things were nice but if you saw it somewhere else it would probably just blend in - the reason it was nice there is because everything else was so horrid and filthy.

This was the nicest place I could find - Jackson Square

July 4th weekend

It feels like the past two weeks have flown by. July 4th weekend was a three day weekend. I could have had plans but decided to make it very low key. To start it off on the perfect note I went to the library and grabbed a couple of FREE movies for the weekend then we went with Blake's little sister to see Toy Story 3. Now what I did not know is that it was going to cost $12 a ticket because it was in 3D. I would have waited for the 4:00 showing to watch it the regular way but since we were already there with my purse crammed with 2 Share & Tear bags of M&M's (peanut and regular) along with 3 bottled drinks: diet coke, mountain dew, and sprite (don't judge me...so I like to save money. I still bought their buttered $7 large popcorn!) there was no turning around. It was such a good movie but I do not prefer the 3D because Bailey didn't like wearing the glasses and it made the movie have a dark tint and the 3D effect wasn't enough to pay $5 extra a ticket. Also kitty cat came with us (see picture) and they did not charge for her to enter...thank goodness! And Yes we did take home the bottom two inches of that popcorn bucket - I spent $7 on that thing we were not going to waste that high cholesterol goodness.

The rest of the day we stayed at home in play clothes playing with legos, dolls, and markers while I finished sewing Bailey's new dress! I had a hard time deciding on the color to accent the hot pink but the paisley turquoise pattern turned out great. I also made Bailey a zebra pillow to match her curtains with the left over material - pillows are like the easiest things to make in the sewing world.

On Saturday we took a mini-trip to see Blake's family down in Brewton for a pool party. On Sunday I met up with my shopping gal Robyn to hit the 4th of July sales where I bought some princess fabric that was already smocked at the top. I thought it was on sale but it wasn't! Thank goodness I had a coupon. I didn't realize it was .50 cents an inch (total was $17 but I had a 40% coupon)! I said "make it a yard" without looking...that would have cut the cost by $4.00...oh well. At Dillard's they ALWAYS have a fabulous 4th of July shoe sale. While other people are at cookouts - I am at Dillard's finding my beloved shoes. I was beginning to think I wouldn't find my "special" shoes but then on the top rack in box marked size 9 I opened it and there they were...if only they were my size instead of a 9 AND THEY WERE! (who's getting chills!!) They were size 8's in the wrong box - the heavens opened up and the angles were singing "hallelujah, hallelujah...." I put them on and felt like the "hot" girl (this doesn't happen often). I looked in the mirror and it was like they were destined to be mine! They were Nina's with a 5 point crown marked down from $60 to $40 with 30% off making my total $32.00! Mission Accomplished!

On Monday I made Bailey her princess dress with the fabric I purchased - wow! It took all of 3 minutes to make the actual dress and maybe 20 minutes total to do the straps. What's perfect about this material is that it is stretchy and I can adjust the straps or take them off and she could wear it as a skirt. I still have to make my sister-in-law her scrubs that I started on in January...they are coming! Sometimes I get an itch for sewing and this weekend was perfect for it.

Doctors & More Doctors

Things could be worse...It's just another bump in the road. It seems that every time I go to the doctor something bizarre is wrong. Why can't my body just be normal? First it was the jacked up pregnancy that turned into asthma with heart palpitations that turned into hypo-thyroidism that turned into kidney stones with cysts and now I go for my blood work check up to find out I have borderline high cholesterol with a genetic disorder. I'm only 25! Which now seems so young because when I turned 25 all I could think was "What have I done in the past 3 years?!?" Why is my body breaking down?! It's so scary to go to the doctor anymore because there is always something wrong with me to add to the list. Like I have time to go to all these doctor appointments between working and taking care of Bailey and Meiko. Ugg....it's been two weeks since I found out so I'm fine with it (after googling my heart out about it). I have my referral paperwork coming "in the mail" so it will probably be another month before I actually get an appointment with a hematologist. I know it could be worse but it seems every time I face another long road Blake is either at basic training, tech school or deployed. I try to look at the good in everything and I know God will not give me more than I can handle which obviously he thinks I can handle a lot - which makes me feel confident that I am walking in the right direction. So that's my "feel sorry for me" blog post...hopefully it will be my last!

Swim Lessons

Bailey has been in swimming lessons for the past two weeks on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 5:00 PM - 5:45 PM. She has done so great and has not been afraid of the water. The first few days she wouldn't stick her head in the water but now she loves too - but on her terms only. Here is a picture of her practicing kicking on her first day. I have taken advantage of the swim lessons and started swimming laps in the gigantic pool - those lanes are much longer than the lanes I did on the swim team (oh geez....umm...12-15 years ago!). I still got it though - if my bathing suit bottoms would stay up. I have lost a little weight and I don't like them to be tight because "muffin top" is NEVER attractive - so my bathing suits are not very good for going fast. I am going to look this weekend for a 1 piece to do laps in because it is a very good workout and relaxing, plus my SS class is having a pool party on Sunday and I think a 1 piece would be more appropriate (oh geez...I'm turning into my mother!).

My Pantry Checklist

I finally got everything listed in my pantry and freezer written down to make out meals - I knew I had enough things to make a few meals but after seeing it all written down and matched up I had 10 meals with a few being large enough to have left overs (spaghetti, pizza, chicken casserole) so it will be close to 15 meals total without needing to go to the grocery store except for milk, bread, fruit, and maybe one or two things. Some of the meals are simple like soup and sandwiches or chicken fingers with applesauce, but Bailey loves those meals and they are perfect for us two. It is hard to not pull in for fast food on the way doing errands but I've been good about going strait home. It has been especially hard these past two weeks with swim lessons being at night - we haven't been getting home until 6:30 every night (Tues-Friday) so making dinner is a rush.

I have been trying to cut back for a while now, but I get the urge for retail therapy! I am co-hosting a Wine & Appetizer Event at my house this weekend and wanted to spruce up my decorating so last week I went to TJMaxx to look for shams for our new quilt I bought for my birthday but instead walked out with 2 shams, 2 down decorative pillows, and the fanciest pillow I have ever owned. It is so perfect! I wasn't sure of my choices but when I asked a girl (who looked cute) what she thought she informed me she was in interior design school and that she loved it. So I walked out spending way more than I wanted to but the end result was perfection and it looked expensive (meaning I spent 1/3 of what it would have costs at a department store...I love TJMaxx).

Also, my personal photographer, B.O.S., finished our family/Bailey's 3 year old pictures and I am so pleased! I have been looking for art or something to put on my kitchen walls and the colors in the pictures were so bright and fun that they looked great in my newly bright green kitchen. I attached my favorite picture - not to "toot my own horn" but it was my idea and it turned out so good. Thanks again Brittney for doing our pictures - she has done Bailey's pictures every year since she was born and always does a great job.

I still need to re-do the kitchen chairs because they are too "matchy" with the new wall color. I am wanting to do stripes with blues and greens or something like that. Last night I started cleaning at 7:45 PM and did not finish until 11:00 PM - way past my bedtime. My house is so clean! I wish it would stay that way but of course Meiko and his hair will ruin it in 3 days....but I love him :) The good news is I have a very clean house and have the weekend to not do any chores :) :) Double smiles!

B is for Busy

For the last couple of weeks we have been very busy. After my birthday weekend which was filled with all sorts of activities I planned on going to see my Sister-in-Law and brother down at the beach for memorial day weekend. I had made plans to go there with Bailey a few weeks in advance but since my ENTIRE family had zero plans they crashed in on my plans. It was a lot of fun though - I believe this was the first family vacation I have been on with my brother and sister in over 10 years. Good thing we like hanging out together because it rained a lot so I got zero sun and gained three pounds from over eating. The day we were leaving I got a phone call from the dog sitter - poor Meiko was sick with a stomach bug I guess because he couldn't keep anything in (unfortunately...both ends). Although the weekend was full of dead ends we still had a lot of fun crashing at Lauren and Keith's house for the 3 day weekend.

The next weekend was full of wedding festivities! It's the south and it was HOT! Bailey was a flower girl in my sorority sister's wedding. She was so excited to wear her white princess dress. It was a beautiful wedding and although I personally was not in it I still was involved with the activities - it was fun to be an "insider" and hang with the bridesmaids.

Last weekend I was asked to go to the beach with family but declined because I just wanted to stay home. On Friday I had guitar practice (which by the way I am doing pretty good on...pat on the back!). Bailey and I went shopping for birthday, baby shower, and father's day presents and then rented movies and ate M&M's. On Sunday we went to the pool for three hours - so nice! It was a relaxing weekend of no structure - just doing as we pleased. It's nice to have weekends like that ever so often.

So of course this Saturday is jam packed with an evangelism project, 2 baby showers, and going to see the princesses. Going, going, going! This Sunday is Father's Day and Blake should be getting his package by Friday. I'm really excited about his gift that Bailey got him...pics to come.

Blogger Junkie

Since Blake's deployment I started looking for military wife blogs. There were a few I liked that posted other blogs that posted other blogs....and so on. So lately I have added about 10 new blogs I follow and I love them. I love the blogs about decorating cupcakes, cakes and cookies, throwing parties, tips on ANYTHING... However, as much as I love these blogs it makes me feel like I need to do more. I don't know if anyone else feels this way but you see great ideas and you want to do them but it gets overwhelming. I am a "list maker". I have a book filled with "to do's", "will do's", and "dreams". So when I look through these lists and see nothing checked off it's hard to take on other tasks.



I am on the second week of "One Month to Live" devotional/book and it says to not spend time on areas of your life that are in the "dark" or unimportant to you...like the things you don't tell people about or things that are not healthy I guess. It made me think of things that are in the "dark" and my biggest "dark" place was all the television I watched that became such a time stealer. It has been over a MONTH since I had the cable taken out of my house and I have to admit that first week was hard. I missed relaxing on the couch watching my shows and watching the news while getting ready in the morning and before bed. Now I don't miss it that much. I have found better things to do with my time like signing Bailey up for the summer reading program at the library on base so in our "down time" we read her library books or work on "school" stuff like writing letters and numbers. We don't have time everyday to do this but at least 3 afternoons a week we sit down and work on "school". It has been so nice to not worry about cleaning off my DVR. Also, I have had more time for cleaning the house and events to attend. So now instead of this "dark" place a.k.a. watching 10 shows a week I have this "light" place filled with books, interacting with my child, and more time for meaningful things.



At the end of week one in "One Month to Live" it asks you to make out a dream page with everything you have ever wanted to do. Looking at it every night makes me want to make them a reality and take one of the dreams off that list and put it on the "to do" list for that week. It may be small steps and take some time but it will be worth while in the end.



I've said it before that it makes it easier to do these things because I am able to spend more time on my interests verses caring about what Blake wants to do. I also have more time for Bailey and myself because I don't have to spend time with him, make big dinners, or clean as much (less dishes, less dirty clothes, less dirt traffic, less clutter...). I bought this book months ago but never had time to do it so it is perfect for these months he is away. It encourages me to do new things and be a better person. Some days can take 3 days to complete and then some nights I get in too late to work on it so it will probably take me 2-3 months to complete it.