Sooo, as you can tell, I suck
and I mean, suck, at blogging. I could not figure out why I could not get myself
to publish posts on my blog on a regular basis. Then, I figured it out, I'm
bored with my own blog. It takes me too long to publish a post and after I'm done, I feel unispired. I am definitely one of those people who reads the newspaper
simply for the pictures and not necessarily for the news. I think that if
something is newsworthy, it will include a picture. I also am totally obsessed
with photography blogs and blogs with lots of pics. My favorites are Simply Bloom Photography {http://simplybloomphotography.com/blog/} and Shawna Noel Photography {http://www.shawnanoel.net/}. I'm also loving some awesome DIY blogs and interest blogs such as The Sartorialist {http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-03-31T09%3A29%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=20}, New Dress A Day {http://www.newdressaday.com/} and Better After {http://betterafter.blogspot.com}.
Day One: I took this pic yesterday in downtown GF. I just love the turquoise color of these steps and the cracks and rust.I'm on a vintage kick right now and these steps just screamed vintage cool.
Here's to Summer!
A
2. Blog More
the new year to blog, not too shabby! 3. Find a Cause
the dog was a Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix. So, I pulled up in my dad's giant pickup and this mini dog jumped right in! I checked it's neck and there wasn't a collar, so I was worried that he either ran away from home or was a stray. Then, I look across the street and another little grey dog jumps across the street and jumped into my pickup - I mean, it was like raining dogs! This pup didn't have tags either so I grabbed both dogs and brought them to my parents house and put them in the garage. Then, I called the local cop, Warren, and asked him what I should do. He told me to bring them to the vet so I did. The vet thought they looked familiar so I hope that they have owners and just escaped. But seriously, I found my cause...animal rescue!4. Go to Church 
5. Work harder, more efficiently, and more productively
mom and dad visited Vermont in October and we had the best time! We went for runs and walks, went shopping, visited the Magic Hat Brewing Company, visite the Ben & Jerry's Factory, and went up to Stowe, VT - an adorable city in the mountains! It was so much fun having them and showing them the sites. Dad is now in love with maple syrup and Green Mountain Coffee. I am now going to send him a lifetime supply of both for his birthday! The picture on the right is of us at the Magic Hat Brewery! 
o Theta and it was wonderful! Emily, my cousin and aunt who are also Thetas came to GF as well as a number of my amazing friends who know my mom! It meant the world to her that all of these women came - I have such great friends! It was such an amazing experience, one that we will all never forget! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures :*( The one picture I did take was with my friend Amy who drove all the way from Minneapolis for mom's initiation! 
on November 13, 2010!!! Mallory and my hard work paid off and there are now 56 more Thetas in this world! It was an unforgettable day with both initiation, the installation ceremony, and the installation dinner. There were some awesome Thetas at the event! I was absolutely in awe at these accomplished women. It was a great cap to the semester!!! The picture to the right is of all of our beautiful women and their lovely ELCs oh and that great big charter!
Whenever we are all together, we have such a great time! We went through the typical meeting stuff but we also had some holiday cheer worked in as well! We went out to a nice dinner and afterwards we went over to our boss Kelley's house for dessert and to exchange our secret santa gifts. It's always fun to celebrate the holidays together and to hang out with Kelley's crazy dogs! :) 
ek relaxing with my fam. Then we flew to Arizona and spent the best Christmas ever with Ross and Sarah in Chandler!!! We had a great time! We toured Arizona State, went running OUTSIDE, went to the Grand Canyon & Sedona, went to a brewery, relaxed, played cards, read books, shopped, and had an overall awesome time! It was so hard to leave them and their dog Mack. Is it sad that I took more pictures of the dog then of the rest of us? He's just too funny and adorable. It's a warm-up for when their kids! 
I thought I would never ever dress up an animal like this...but seriously it was hilarious! Plus, he didn't even care. He ran outside with this Santa costume on all day like he wasn't wearing anything. Of course he ditched the mittens asap!
Friday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Katie's amazing family had all of us over to their house and we had a big bbq complete with backyard games. I don't think any Walker family event would be complete without some sort of game or competition. It was a great night with a gorgeous sunset and fun people. We were ready to go with the wedding! 
Finally, Saturday the big day was upon us! I went over to Sarah's mom and sister's apartment at about 8:30 and we started getting ready for the wedding. We had a great time just putting on make-up and doing everyone's hair. After we got ready, we went to the park where Ross and Sarah were getting married and took some fun pictures. We went back to the apartment and just hung out until the limo came and picked us up. The limo finally rolled up and we all trekked downstairs from the third floor. I was wearing these cute little heels and all of a sudden as I was walking down the stairs made of rock granules I trip and skidded down at least 3-4 stairs. Pretty typical Alyssa move. I wasn't hurt just a couple of nice scrapes on my knee and shin. Just so you know band-aids photograph beautifully
during weddings. It was a pretty good laugh at least! We got to the circle at Colorado State (this gorgeous lawn lined with trees between all of the buildings) where the wedding took place. Ross and all of the guests were there waiting for us. We pulled up and as soon as we got out of the limo the wedding started. We had to walk at least three miles down the sidewalk a.k.a. aisle - seriously looooooongest wedding walk ever. Ross hadn't seen Sarah until the moment that she walked down the aisle and it was a pretty great moment! I was a blubbery mess during the entire wedding. It never fails, I always cry. But overall it was such a gorgeous wedding and so well meant. There was a really special part where the preacher mentioned that Ross had told him that he wanted a marriage like my mom and dads and commended them for making it work and having such a great relationship...uh cue waterworks now... so sweet.
After the wedding, the entire bridal party piled into the limo and went to one of Ross and Sarah's favorite places to eat in Fort Collins, Big City Burrito. These burritos are huge, but they are soooo yummy! We ate our burritos, piled back into the car, then headed to the reception. The reception was sooooo much fun. Serioulsy, the dj was the best that I had ever seen. There was one point where every single person their was in the congo line. It was so so so much fun! We danced and danced and danced! Overall, fun times had by all.
two greater people. They literally fit together like a puzzle and were put on this earth to be together, okay that was super cheesey, but very true. I am so blessed to finally have Sarah as a sister! Now the girls out number the boys in our family, and let me say, that's a good thing! Plus, now Ross and Sarah's dog Mack isn't illigitimate! Yay! So happy for you both and love you bunches!
a super fun time! Matt, Hil's boyfriend, Mallory, and I planned a surprise party for Hil. Mal and I decorated Matt's hotel room while Matt and Hil went to a street fair. We went all out...streamers, silly string, a pinata, confetti poppers. She was totally surprised. It was pretty great! Mallory and I even made her a cake, which was decorated quite awesomely if I do say so myself. Mal's boyfriend and two of his friends came to Indy to celebrate with us. I think it will be a birthday that Hil will remember for quite some time! {Pic: Hil and her sweet cake}
torrential down pours including thunder, lightening, and wind and we unfortunately had lawn seats so it wasn't as much fun as it would have been if it had actually been nice out. We watched the opening act then the sky literally opened up. We waited it out for two hours and then Dave finally came on. We stuck it out for five songs in the rain then decided to go home. We were sopping wet, tired, and pour Justine had a really bad cold, so it was time to head our. It was a good show, but I wish it wasn't raining so we would have been able to stay for the whole thing. Regardless, it's a good story :) {Pic -All the ladies before DMB and yes the sun was actually shining before the concert!}
and his friend Chelsea. Matt was brave and trekked all the way to Nashville with Justine, Hil, and I. We had such a blast. The bar scene in Nashville is awesome because of all of the live music. We went to a ton of fun country bars, a club, and a piano bar [I <3>
So these are pretty much the highlights of our summer fun working in Indy! The four of us had such a wonderful time and have gotten so much closer. We are really close friends which is so unbelievably wonderful. In the spring we will all be in Hilary and Matt's wedding and can't wait to make some more memories. Here are some pics of my favorite ELC ladies and I! 
{Mallory & I - we're based together in Vermont}
{Hilary and I - she's based in Tampa and will be getting married to the wonderful Matt in May!}
{Justine & I - Justine is traveling and leading all of our first year traveling ELC friends!}
I'm going to blog again today! I know! Two blogs, one day...that's crazy talk.
Later,
Lyss
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. 
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! 
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! 
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 C of I, I decided it was time for another break, I was heading to Florida next and it just so happened that my lovely ELC friend, Whitney was going to be home in Palmetto for the weekend, so I flew down there to hang with her! Palmetto, FL is right on the ocean and is super close to the beach. Whitney was gracious enough to let me accompany her while she laid on the beach each day! Yay! It was so great to see such a gorgeous view and bask in the sun! I had an awesome time seeing where Whit grew up and experiencing the island life, as they are very close to a number of islands. It is so chill and laid back in FL. I'm so thankful that I now have a friend that lives in a tropical place! I will be visiting Whitney again! :)
After relaxing on the beach for a couple of days I visited another one of Whitney's old stomping grounds, the University of Florida! Gator-ville, I mean Gainesville, was great! I felt as if I would run into Tim Tebow at any moment, which was quite alright with me. It was cool hanging with Whitney's sisters and seeing where she spent her time in college! While in Gainesville, I ate at the infamous "Swamp" restaurant and spent waaay too much money in the book story. The awesome ladies of Delta Theta got me a ticket to see a Q&A with Andy Samberg!!!! I had a blast and laughed my butt off! Andy is on SNL and is famous for his music videos like "I'm On a Boat" and "Dick in a Box." Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pics of Andy, so I don't have anything to show you all, but I can assure you it was a good time! The picture to the right is part of the Delta Theta house @ UF. 
