To say I have been MIA from my blog lately is probably the world's largest understatement! What can I say, I have been busy! Well, as my cycling instructor would say, "No excuses, Let's GOOOO!", I guess I will have to start from the top and fill you in on all that has happened in the life of Alyssa...
The 2009-2010 school year wrapped up very quickly! I couldn't believe how fast it went! Let me pick up where I left off. When I last blogged (OMG, in March!!!), I was visiting the University of North Florida. The weather once again did not cooperate much for me while I was there, but there was one very sunny afternoon and the women of the chapter held a sisterhood event outside in which they tie-dyed t-shirts. This is my second tie-dye sisterhood 
event of my year, so let's just say that I am becoming quite the tie-dye connoisseur. The event was held at this absolutely gorgeous nature preserve on campus. The reserve is surrounded by a little lake that students canoe on and run around. It is absolutely gorgeous. Earlier in the day I had asked one of the members if they went swimming in the lake because it was so pretty and she was like, "Oh God NO! There are gators in there!" Naturally, I didn't believe her until I saw this sign... needless to say there was no gator feeding going on.
event of my year, so let's just say that I am becoming quite the tie-dye connoisseur. The event was held at this absolutely gorgeous nature preserve on campus. The reserve is surrounded by a little lake that students canoe on and run around. It is absolutely gorgeous. Earlier in the day I had asked one of the members if they went swimming in the lake because it was so pretty and she was like, "Oh God NO! There are gators in there!" Naturally, I didn't believe her until I saw this sign... needless to say there was no gator feeding going on. After Florida, I headed home and went skiing with my family! We went up to Red Lodge in Montana for Easter weekend and had sooooooo much fun! My dad taught my brother and I both to ski when we were young and it is definitely a sport that I will do for the rest of my life. My dad is an awesome skiier and we had a ton of fun exploring Red Lodge. We did not attempt any of the black diamonds, we were sore enough from the blue runs! The weather in MT was absolutely perfect for skiing. It snowed the day we arrived and we had fresh powder all w
eekend long. It actually snowed the first day we were on the mountain. Dad had purchased these super cheap goggles and he was so excited to test them out. We got to the top of the mountain and our goggles fogged up immediately! So, it was a toss up deciding whether or not you wore the foggy goggles or if you blinked every .002 seconds while snow was hitting you in the face. After the "run of death," dad and I broke down and bought some nice goggles in chalet. They made a huge difference and now I will never ski without them. They were quite spendy though, so we were trying to think of ways we could use the goggles in life. I think dad is planning to take the guard off of the snow blower next winter and just wear his goggles, I decided that mine would be best used for running in the summer. Hey, they serve as sunglasses too! Plus, I run so fast that I get bugs in my eyes all of the time (not!). This gorgeous pic is just one of the runs we went on. I want to go back right now, I'm sure there is snow in June!
eekend long. It actually snowed the first day we were on the mountain. Dad had purchased these super cheap goggles and he was so excited to test them out. We got to the top of the mountain and our goggles fogged up immediately! So, it was a toss up deciding whether or not you wore the foggy goggles or if you blinked every .002 seconds while snow was hitting you in the face. After the "run of death," dad and I broke down and bought some nice goggles in chalet. They made a huge difference and now I will never ski without them. They were quite spendy though, so we were trying to think of ways we could use the goggles in life. I think dad is planning to take the guard off of the snow blower next winter and just wear his goggles, I decided that mine would be best used for running in the summer. Hey, they serve as sunglasses too! Plus, I run so fast that I get bugs in my eyes all of the time (not!). This gorgeous pic is just one of the runs we went on. I want to go back right now, I'm sure there is snow in June! 
After skiing, I drove back with my parents home for a couple of days then headed back out to Montana, but this time a little further west to Missoula and one of my favorite chapters, Alpha Nu. My second visit was just a follow-up to see how well they were doing with the new pilot structure. I am happy to report that they are doing really well and received the Chapter of Excellence award at their campus' Greek awards! Go Theta! Here is a picture of Courtney and Kate meeting me in the airport-this is why they are my favs! 
After Montana, I visited UC-Davis in Davis, California. It was fun to be back out in CA! Davis is such a cute community with tons of charm. The women were super friendly and were willing to show me around campus and the community. Apparently UC-Davis is the bike capitol of the world because literally everyone rides their bikes! I have honestly never seen so many bikes in my life. On campus, bikes are whizzing around you and they definitely have the right of way. Bikes are so big that their are even bike round-abouts on campus to control "traffic." Crazy! While I was at Davis, I went to dinner with Sue Gilmore, the Finance District Director in Sacramento. I enjoyed the most amazing steak that I have ever had in my whole life! She also showed me a little bit of old town Sacramento which was really fun! Is it sad that I have to look at my planner to figure out where I visited after UC-D? Wow, it has been a while since I posted. Okay, so after UC-D, I went to Auburn University to visit my ELC friend Whitney who is based at our newest Theta chapter, Gamma Omega. Our other ELC friend, Lauren, also met up with us in Alabama! Auburn University is located in none other than Auburn, AL. It is the most adorable little town and there is not better school spirit than their is in the south and the SEC! While I was at
Auburn we went to the Tiger's spring scrimmage football game. It was a scorching 80 degrees in the middle of April! The game was a ton of fun. We also did a little bit of work while at Auburn. We assisted the chapter in hosting their first ever Founder's Day which was held at an old mansion in Auburn. The property was gorgeous! Thetas from around Alabama came to celebrate the founding of the Fraternity on an adorable tented patio complete with a fountain. It was a lot of fun! We had such a great weekend in Auburn hanging out, exploring, and just relaxing. A big thanks to Whitney for hosting us!
Auburn we went to the Tiger's spring scrimmage football game. It was a scorching 80 degrees in the middle of April! The game was a ton of fun. We also did a little bit of work while at Auburn. We assisted the chapter in hosting their first ever Founder's Day which was held at an old mansion in Auburn. The property was gorgeous! Thetas from around Alabama came to celebrate the founding of the Fraternity on an adorable tented patio complete with a fountain. It was a lot of fun! We had such a great weekend in Auburn hanging out, exploring, and just relaxing. A big thanks to Whitney for hosting us! All right, moving on... After Auburn, I visited my brother in Tempe. I was hoping that 
I could help my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Sarah, with wedding preparations, but she was asked to compete in a track meet in Africa!! How exciting! Sarah picked me up from the airport on Monday, then Ross brought her to the airport early Tuesday morning. We got to hang out for about four hours, but I was so excited that she has received the opportunity to compete internationally. She's kind of a big deal! So, with Sarah gone, Ross, Mack, and I chilled, well mostly Mack and I because Ross still had to go to work (sucker!). But while I was in AZ, we hiked up a new mountain trail, spent some quality movie watching time together, went to a high school track meet, and ate some yummy Mexican food of course. It was a nice relaxing break and it's always good to see Ross.
I could help my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Sarah, with wedding preparations, but she was asked to compete in a track meet in Africa!! How exciting! Sarah picked me up from the airport on Monday, then Ross brought her to the airport early Tuesday morning. We got to hang out for about four hours, but I was so excited that she has received the opportunity to compete internationally. She's kind of a big deal! So, with Sarah gone, Ross, Mack, and I chilled, well mostly Mack and I because Ross still had to go to work (sucker!). But while I was in AZ, we hiked up a new mountain trail, spent some quality movie watching time together, went to a high school track meet, and ate some yummy Mexican food of course. It was a nice relaxing break and it's always good to see Ross. After Arizona, I headed to DePauw University for my last visit of the semester. Two days into my visit, I got a phone call from my mom saying that my Grandma Viv had passed away. Needless to say, I left Alpha early and flew home to be with my family. Grandma has been sick for sometime and it was such a blessing that she passed away while my mom and her brother and sisters were with her. I am so lucky to have gotten a chance to spend so much time with my Grandma while I went to school at UND. She was such a special lady with the most giving heart. No one ever left Viv's house without a cup of coffee in their tummies. Her door was always welcome to anyone. She will truly be missed, but is still and always will be very loved. My mom's entire family was in Portland, ND for the funeral and we really celebrated Grandmas life. It was unfortunate that we had to meet on such sad circumstances but it was great to reconnect with everyone again and to laugh and share memories of Grandma. She sure made a great family!
Isn't she the greatest! This is one of my favorite pictures of Grandma Viv and I. I was on my way home from Grand Forks and as I usually did, I stopped by Grandma's house. We decided to go over to Shari's and Grandma needed a pair of shades, so naturally she wore mine! :) She's the best!
Isn't she the greatest! This is one of my favorite pictures of Grandma Viv and I. I was on my way home from Grand Forks and as I usually did, I stopped by Grandma's house. We decided to go over to Shari's and Grandma needed a pair of shades, so naturally she wore mine! :) She's the best!
Because of the funeral, I was unable to attend the End of Semester meeting at Headquarters and wasn't able to say goodbye to my ELC friends who were not returning next year, but I was exactly where I needed to be. Everyone at HQ was so understanding and the ladies were really there for me. I am so thankful for the wonderful people that I work with! I'm so lucky! After the funeral, I drove back home with mom and dad and had a relaxing week just to hang out in Killdeer. It was good to be home and to sleep in my bed. On May 10th, I travelled back out to Indianapolis to work at HQ for the summer. This is where I currently am now! I will give you an update soon (and I mean it!) about all of the fun stuff that we have been doing this summer. We are in our sixth and final week working at HQ for the summer! It has just flown by! On Sunday we leave for Grand Convention in Tucson, AZ! All of our hard work will finally be worth it! Well, I better head to bed, I had an early morning workout this morning and am exhausted!
Peace & Blessings,
Lyss :)
Cute pic of GMA and yourself. LOVE It. Let us know how you are doing? A~
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