my busy wednesday

Whew....this is seriously this first time I have sat down alone today.

Today was busy. I was all over the place.

I had to wake up a tad bit normal than usual this morning because I was asked to be a guest on a St. Joesph radio talk show.

The first half hour of the show was President Dr. John Jasinski and athletic director Wren Baker. The second half hour was Amy Nally (director of volunteer and service learning) and myself.

We discussed the various volunteer opportunities on the Northwest campus/community and our upcoming Alternative Spring Break trip to Pensacola, Florida.

Here are a few pictures from the radio station.


This afternoon, the Newman Catholic Center offered Ash Wednesday Mass and I distributed the ashes.

Then I spent the rest of the day in class, appointments, all that good stuff.

Tonight we had a SAC Entertainment Event: David Garibaldi. This guy is unbelievable. He creates 6-foot portraits of famous people, set to music, in just a few short minutes.

My favorite: President Obama.

While painting, he had fun upbeat music playing and phrases of Obama's speeches from the 2008 presidential election.

I should remind myself of Obama's famous quote when I am feeling completely exhausted (right now)

"Yes, we can!" only I will change it to..."Yes, I can!"

Yes, I can...make it through this week, school year, and college! :)

Is that a tulip?

Correct me if I'm wrong...but isn't this a baby tulip growing in my garden?

I have such fond memories of my Auntie Violet when I see tulips. They are my absolute favorite flower.

Auntie used to let me cut one tulip of each color to bring to my teacher in elementary school. I would proudly walk into the classroom, tulips in hand and give them to my teacher who would always place them next to the statue of Mary.

Good ole' Catholic schools days.

Currently...

Currently...we have an Easter/Spring wreath hanging on our door made by yours truly.

Currently...trying to decide what to give up for Lent.

I thought about Facebook, but I use it to talk to so many people who live far away.

I've done sweets in the past.

I did cheese one year. That was hard.

Any suggestions?

Currently...planning on going to South Africa in five years.

Last night, Danielle and I made a pact. (Well, I kind of forced her to agree) In five years, if we are still single (not married) we are traveling to South Africa together. I told her we had to document our pact, so we wrote it on the back of my Michael's receipt. Pretty sure I won't be married in five years and she doesn't want to ever get married, so it looks like I could start planning :)

Currently...I am super excited because I found out last night that Straight No Chaser is coming to Kansas City on October 23rd.

I have to go. It is a dream of mine to see them in concert. Tickets are $90. Birthday present perhaps, mom?

Currently...enjoying the birds chirping outside my window and wanting to go on a walk in this weather.

Currently...remembering that God has a plan for me. I can try to manipulate His plans, but what is meant to be will find a way.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Can we all please pause for a moment to admire these lil' beauties?

Ahhh...aren't they lovely?

They are TOMS. Maybe you've heard of them. Maybe you haven't.

If you haven't, I am going to give you the 411. These shoes are worth knowing about.

TOMS shoes is a One for One Movement.

For every pair of shoes you purchase, a pair of shoes is donated to a child in need.

Can it get much better than that?

Yes, it can. How about having the founder of TOMS shoes, Blake Mycoskie, come to your campus to speak as a distinguished lecture?

Yep, that's right folks. Blake Mycoskie is the fourth SAC lecture. He originally was supposed to come in December, but he got called to do a shoe drop in another country and unfortunately, he had to cancel.

I was heartbroken when his lecture was cancelled, but filled with twice the excitement when we were able to reschedule. Blake Mycoskie will be speaking at Northwest on Monday, April 18th, 2011.

I am soo soo sooooo excited for him to be coming to our campus. I am passionate about the movement that is taking place with TOMS shoes. I firmly believe in the mission of the organization.

I have been in contact with the TOMS Speaking Tour Coordinator, Elise, to help with promotional ideas. It is my goal to have our performing arts theatre sold out. I do not want an empty seat in the house. This movement is too inspirational for people to not hear about. I will reach my goal. I am determined.

Watch this video to get a better understanding of TOMS.


40% of the world's people don't have shoes. I bet that a lot of people in America have over 40 pairs of shoes.

Next time you're thinking about buying a pair of shoes, consider TOMS.

My first pair of TOMS. Just chillin on the bus. Washington, D.C.

Andrew Jenks

3 successful SAC lectures down, one more to go.

On Monday night, Andrew Jenks, from the hit MTV series "World of Jenks" was our third lecture of the school year.

World of Jenks is a documentary starring Andrew Jenks. For one week, he moves in with a stranger to experience their life from a different perspective and documents it all.

It's a pretty neat show if you ask me. Season two is currently underway.

Andrew spoke for about 45 minutes followed by Q & A and then a short meet and greet.

We had a great turnout and everything went according as planned. Andrew Jenks arrived at 7:00 p.m., we did a mic check and made sure his video played, doors opened at 7:30 p.m., lecture started at 8:00 p.m. on the dot (I'm big on things starting on time) and everyone was out of the theatre by 9:30 p.m.

After the lecture, a few friends came over to my house to say our good-byes to Dan (our former SAC graduate assistant) He is currently in grad school taking online classes and was offered a job in Seattle, so he had to move out there ASAP. We laughed so hard on Monday night that we were all crying.

Definitely one of those college nights I won't forget.

KC shopping trip

On Natalie's birthday, Kasha, Rachael, Natalie, and myself headed to Kansas City to shop.

First stop. Charming Charlies.

Words of advice.

Calmly walk into the store and try to pick up your chin that is on the ground.

Act as if you have seen something more beautiful (even though you probably haven't)

Realize that you can't have everything in the store, even though it seems as if it was designed for you.

To say this store was amazing would be an understatement.

It has every piece of jewelry, hair accessory, purse, clutch, scarf, etc. you can imagine.

And...

It's all color coordinated.

B-e-a-utiful! Did you see the gorgeous chandelier in the picture above?

After Charming Charlie's we went to Forever21 followed by Lush.

Natalie is currently obsessed with Lush Beauty Products.

They offer all natural products that are sold online and in a few select stores.

There just happened to be a store in KC, so of course we had to go.

She was in love with the store. Here she is by all of the pretty bath balls.

A fun outing enjoyed by all!

Happy 21st Natty!

My beautiful roommate Natalie turned 21 on Sunday. I wanted to make it a memorable birthday party for her because she does so much for other people and doesn't always receive recognition.

We celebrated Saturday night with some of our close friends, even though her birthday was Sunday.

On the table, you will see all the desserts. Banana walnut cupcakes with cream cheese icing, cake balls, almond bark covered popcorn, and brownies.

Natalie's drink request was margaritas. My sister Teresa gave me a great, quick recipe that I made the night before the party. I put the margaritas in a punch bowl and topped it off with limes.

I decided to make labels for the water bottles. They say "Natalie's Hydration Station." (Of course, it was her 21st birthday, so we needed to make sure she was drinking enough water ;) I designed them on my computer. Super easy and quick.

I told the birthday girl that at five o'clock she had to head upstairs and stay there until until 7:30 p.m. I felt like I was grounding her, but wanted the decorations to be a surprise and I wanted the guests to be there before she came down stairs.

A little after 7:30 p.m. I went upstairs to grab the birthday girl, I made her keep her eyes shut after she got downstairs. All of our friends were gathered around the table quietly waiting until I gave them to the cue to start singing "Happy Birthday." These next few pictures are her reaction.

After we sang, we all dug into the tacos, beans, and Spanish rice that were waiting for us in the kitchen.

Following dinner we had her open up gifts.

Our friend let us borrow his karaoke machine. Throughout the whole night we were singing. We had some good singers...and some not so good singers. Bryce was definitely the best.

Because Natalie didn't actually turn 21 until Sunday we held off going to the bar until midnight. Of course time slip past us and before we knew it, it was 12:30 a.m. (Bars close at 1:00 a.m.) As we were walking in, I told Natalie to get her ID ready so I could take a picture of her getting carded. She replied...

"Oh no...I forgot my ID."

Not a problem. We jump back in the car and headed home to grab it.

The ID is nowhere to be found.

MIA.

Ten minutes later after digging through her room we find it. It is 12:44 a.m. Jump back in the car, arrive at the bar at 12:48. Get in the door, take her picture, and she takes her first shot at the bar.

Successful night followed by a successful morning....more to come on that note.