Richardson to Carrolton

Okay, so I know it's been a while.  But you should SEE my schedules.  Here's what I have been up to:


UT DALLAS (Richardson, TX)
Loved being back so close to Executive Office.  I got to visit with my Chapter Services friends, get some much needed hugs, and re-energize for the challenge of recruitment with a newer chapter.  This visit was more relaxing - I was actually able to sleep in!  This visit was completely consumed with helping the chapter prepare for recruitment.  It was so weird sitting back and knowing when to step in and assist.  It was difficult to let them do things their way when all I'm thinking is "We do this differently at South Carolina..." and THAT is when I have to take a step back and put myself in check.  This isn't MY chapter.  It is theirs and it is up to them to make it what they want it to be.  So take a deep breath and shut it.  Because of these things UT Dallas has definitely taught me the most so far.  They are really working so hard towards a great recruitment and I can't wait to see the results when I return after my break!


LOUISIANA at LAFAYETTE (Lafayette, LA)

These women are rock stars.  I hate that this was my shortest visit so far because I so much enjoyed being in Lafayette.  One of the sweet women gave up her room in her apartment for me, so I stayed with her roommate for my 3 nights there.  Lafayette is such a cute town.  I had no idea it would be as populated as it was...shows how much research I do!  I ate so much great food - shrimp poor boy, coffee from a french press, fried oreos - the list goes on.  I'm fairly certain I gained some weight here.  This campus was also my first expereince with a Greek Row that has houses with identical floor plans - it was so different than what I'm used to!  They're cute little houses though and it is my opinion that the Tri Delta one looked the cutest (not biased or anything).  This could be partially because the Phi Mu house decided to place a cigarette trash can between their two benches in the front yard.

hilarious

It reminded me fondly of Miss Lou smoking on the back porch back in the day. Oh the memories...ANYWAY, I just loved ULL.  Including their man made swamp in the middle of campus.  Alligators and all.


RHODES (Memphis, TN)
aka Hogwarts.  A Harry Potter fan's dream.  I was there for a recruitment visit but only got to see their Round 1.  Again, it was so interesting to see a recruitment different from what I am used to at South Carolina.  At Rhodes they really have "no frills" and at USC we have, well, frills.  The women had it down though and I actually felt really useless for the first time as a consultant.  They didn't need my help when it came to the recruitment stuff.  I was almost in the way!  Thankfully I was able to pass along some tips when I met with the officers on the other days - that way I didn't feel as much like a farkle fail.  I had a good bit of "free time" here so I was able to catch up on my reports.  In result - free time wasn't so free.  But it was still so nice to sit around campus and get some work done.  Their whole campus is gated in and b-e-a-utiful.

the library

Tri Delta house!

See what I mean?  All of the buildings on campus (and I mean all of the buildings) are made of that gorgeous stone.  It was so neat how small the campus was and that when they say "walking distance"...everything really is in walking distance.  I could never go to a school that small but I can see how people would enjoy it!


WEST GEORGIA (Carrollton, GA)
On day 2 here in Carrollton!  I arrived on Bid Day and it was wonderful.  The chapter welcomed 25 smiling new members.  They all receive their bids then run to their houses, a lot like what we do on the Horseshoe at USC.  Only with 800 less girls running to their new chapters.  They were all so excited and I love seeing Bid Day at different schools - it's like Christmas!  So far I have really just been having meetings and getting to know their new members. So much fun :) Something interesting though - they call the Tri Delts "Deltas"...which still sounds strange to me.  I've heard they do that a lot of places though so I guess I'll get used to it!

yummy bid night cake!

And that's what I've been up to!  I head home for a super short break on Saturday morning and will fly out for my second visit to UT Dallas on Tuesday.  Wish I'd be there for a little bit longer - I'm already counting down until my next visit when I get to go to my first Gamecock game of the season!!  FYI - it is 31 days away.

More Cowbell

ATTENTION:  I now have my very own, personalized, real life Mississippi State cowbell!  That's right - the sweet ladies of the Beta Mu chapter gave this little gem on my last night in Starkville!

the back side says MSU with a presh bulldog print

Now don't worry fellow Gamecock fans, I have no intention of actually ringing this cowbell once it returns to God's country with me (aka South Carolina), as I of course think there should be an enforced ban on these little guys if we aren't allowed to have our rooster crow over the sound system in Williams-Brice.  I hope some NCAA official stumbles across this blog...

ANYWAY, I just love it.  Mississippi State was wonderful all around - such a hospitable chapter with some really great women.  Not to mention they just got a bangin' new pledge class!  I was lucky to get to arrive on Bid Day and join in on all of the festivities.  And have no fear readers, my elbow injury I mentioned in the last post is healing quite nicely.  As my first regular visit, it was my first taste of what meeting with every officer in a chapter will be like.  Woof.  Talk about a packed schedule.  I was exhausted and slurring my words by my 5th meeting of each day.  Luckily all of the chapter members at MSU were just dolls so I was eased into the world of back-to-back meetings rather painlessly.  I got a tour of their pretty campus, had some great dinners in the Starkville area, and wrapped up my visit with some fro-yo (frozen yogurt for you ice cream rookies out there) on the last night.

view of the back side of Davis Wade Stadium and a little bit of the
grassy junction at the bottom right, where lots of tailgating takes place

Another highlight of the Mississippi State visit - they have house birds!  Their house mom keeps these little girls (I decided they're girls) in a cage in the hallway so you pass the chirping bitties on your way to the chapter room.  She's currently trying to teach them to say "Delta Love" - but I'm not so sure they talk.  I decided I've conquered my fear of birds as long as they're in a cage.

They're named Pearl and Pansy, duh!

After a fun 5 days in Starkville, I boarded a plane in the bustling airport (HA) in Columbus, Mississippi to head to Dallas for my 3rd visit.  Obviously, I say "bustling" in jest because the airport actually only has one gate.  And one security check point which only opens 30 minutes before a flight is boarding. Teeee-niny. But I arrived at DFW safe and sound, picked up my precious black Jetta I have for the week, and headed to EXECUTIVE OFFICE!  I was so excited to see familiar faces that I can't even put it into words.  They gave me hugs and squeals...and a new internet card.  Thank the Lord!  I've been missing mine since the hotel in Memphis kidnapped it during training.  Talk about an unresponsive lost and found department.  Thanks for never calling me back, y'all!  But oh well, I have a new one now.  I traveled from there to my hotel in Richardson and BOY was I happy when I walked through the door.

my room at the Double Tree

A king bed! My own bathroom! A television! Outlets that work! A desk! Drawers! A shower I don't have to wear shoes in!!  In short - heaven for the weekend.  I have so enjoyed sleeping with room to spread out. Ahhh :) Unfortunately I have to turn in my room key and my new car on Tuesday, but I'm so very excited for my next visit.  I've heard great things about the chapter at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette!  In the mean time I'm making friends with the women at the University of Texas at Dallas.  I'm helping them prep for recruitment right now so they will be ready to hit the ground running when I return on September 6th for formal recruitment.  Go Tri Delta, y'all!  The first recruitment workshop is tomorrow so I'm ready to get the ladies pumped for a successful Bid Day this year!

PS - As I've been immersed in nothing but recruitment at during my visits, I've been thinking about my Alpha Lambda loves back at South Carolina kicking butt in recruitment this year. Keep it up, ladies! Miss y'all!

Magnolia state?

Last week I packed my life into two bags and set out on the road to start my adventure!  I was very excited, a little nervous (okay, I was A LOT nervous) and ready to get my first visit under way.  The flights on my way to the Greenville, MS airport were interesting, with no time to spare during my connection in Atlanta and long enough during my Memphis layover to have my first solo meal in an airport.  It was depressing.

Couldn't there at least be a window?

But I finally arrived still in good spirits to my first visit:  Delta State University.  Home of the Fighting...Okra?  Yes, that's right, the Fighting Okra.  Although their name is officially the much less interesting "Statesmen", I decided to stick with Okra for the entirety of my trip.  I was sure to tell them that I hail from the home of the Okra Strut so we have that little vegetable in common.

Fierce, right?

Delta State was awesome.  They are a small chapter (about 35 members before recruitment this year) so it was an adjustment from my personal experience, but I took to them immediately and really enjoyed my stay.  There couldn't have been a better place to start my travels!  I was there during their recruitment workshops and then for their first two days of formal recruitment, and I had a blast.  They were tons of fun and so welcoming.  Look how cute my room was when I arrived!

They even put art work in there!

I had a true test of my recruitment knowledge, between matching party lists with chapter members and voting input, but I was really proud of my ability to help.  Especially considering I was never involved in the clerical side of recruitment before then.  I truly had to embody the motto "fake it 'til ya make it" and in the end it all worked out!  I was so sad to leave them in the middle of their recruitment process though.  It is no fun to do the work and not get to see all of the beautiful new members on bid day!  The sweet ladies got me a cake and all signed a card for me on my last night, making it even harder to say goodbye.

DSU Chapter with my cake :)

Apparently it was SO hard, I left an entire drawer of tops/blouses in the room I was staying in.  That's right, I am currently down several articles of clothing at my visit to my second stop:  Mississippi State!  Don't worry though Mom, they are in the mail and on the way to me as I type.  Good thing I packed some dresses so I still have clothes to wear.  I drove from the Greenville, MS airport (in the middle of a soy field) to the Columbus, MS airport (in the middle of...well...nowhere) and was picked up by some precious chapter members there.  On my drive I began to really question why Mississippi is the Magnolia state...as I've seen more in South Carolina.  Then I remembered people visiting the upstate of SC probably wonder the same thing about us being the Palmetto state, so I guess I'll cut them some slack :)  Once I arrived on campus (which is beautiful by the way), the Beta Mu chapter welcomed me with a sign on Bid Day!  It was so nice of them to still think of me when they had so many things going on that morning.

So sweet of them!

The room I'm staying in here is so cute and I love their house.  It has a really neat back yard area that is complete with a dolphin fountain.  To clarify:  it is a concrete dolphin spitting water into a little pond, NOT a fountain with dolphins.  Though I wish it was the latter.  The women here are really great as well, we had fun playing around on Bid Day - which was awesome with blow up slides, a bounce castle, and a Velcro wall.  I have a battle burn on my right elbow to prove it.


All in all, I am exhausted but having a  lot of fun.  I have met so many amazing women already and can't wait to see what the rest of the semester has in store for me.  I will try my best to update the blog more frequently!  Recruitment visits leave very little personal time to  do things like that but once I'm doing steady, regular visits, it shouldn't be a problem at all :)

Training Wrap-Up

Dearest followers, I apologize for slacking off the last week of training and not updating at all.  As the weeks went by our time got more restricted with homework, experiencing the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and all things in between.  Excuses aside, I have decided to write a "Notable Nine" list to highlight the end of training and our visit to Memphis.
Note: I said "Notable Nine" because a few things would most certainly not make it to a "Top Ten" list but should still be mentioned, while still keeping proper alliteration . Also, these are in mostly chronological (not ranked) order.


1.  Rangers Game - What better to do on a Friday night than catch a little MLB action at the home of some of last year's World Series games?  Decked out in our red and blue we walked up to Rangers Ballpark and made our way to our top row seats, which were well worth the climb.  Being behind home plate but far enough up to feel the breeze was perfect as we sipped on their amazing strawberry/lime swirled margaritas.  And watched Sarah make friends with  a very forceful, 7-year-old who was way too into her "Let's Go Rangers!" chant.

Michelle, Emily and I cheering on the Rangers

Group shot leaving the game,
if only you knew the trouble we had snapping this one.

2.  Day in Dallas - In true Farkle fashion we spent part of our day off stalking the Tri Delta house on the SMU campus in downtown Dallas.  We took pictures, looked at all of their Greek housing, and drove by the football stadium (Pony up!) before getting lunch.  We ate at Vickery Park (which was phenom) then made our way to the West Village for some shopping.  Since we FCs don't get paid until mid-August, we didn't do much damage BUT enjoyed our time anyway.  Asside from my frustration with Dallas drivers, a parking garage, and the suburban I was driving, this was an ideal way to spend a Sunday off.


3.  Six Flags Photo Shoot - About as fun as it sounds.  We dressed up in our Vera letter shirts and blue jeans for an early (like, really early...) morning with the park to ourselves.  The shoot was fun, the photographer loved Emily, and AnneMarie conquered her fear and rode the swings!  These pictures will be used for promotional things on the website and in the Trident.  Basically, I'm a model now.

The FCs and Jason!
L to R: AnneMarie, Morgan, myself, Emily, Sarah, Emily, Michelle

4.  New Field Consultant Pins - On our final Saturday we got a surprise from Jason and the Executive Board; our FC badges!  Jason had been telling us we would "get them when they come in" for the past week and a half each time we asked about them, but of course he was being sneaky (shock) and was holding them until the Executive Board was in town to present them to us.  Julie pinned mine on me and we were happy little Deltas for the rest of the day.

The FCs and Executive Board after receiving our FC pins

5.  9 to 5 the Musical - Our last night in Arlington the Chapter Services staff treated us to an evening in Fort Worth to see 9 to 5 at Bass Performance Hall.  It was hilarious!  Being the youngsters that we are, none of the FCs had seen the movie before, but loved the show anyway!  Seeing the movie is now a must.  Word is the movie is a little less racy, but has all of the good parts still included.

The FCs at Bass Performance Hall before 9to5

6.  National Civil Rights Museum - This place was amazing.  Well, the museum itself was a little content heavy (some would say "educational", but whatever) but the portion dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr's last few years of life and assassination were beyond moving.  The timeline of the events is on display in the building from which James Earl Ray shot Dr. King, and the Lorraine Hotel where Dr. King was shot is set up to look the way it did on the evening of April 4th, 1968.

Spot of MLK Jr.'s Assassination

7.  St. Jude - This portion really needs no words for those who have seen the place, and there aren't words strong enough to describe it to those who have not.  It's a little slice of heaven that has been working since 1962 to rid children of cancer.  The research and patient care done there are nothing short of innovative.  From the child-height reception desks to the made-to-order kitchen, everything there really is for the kids.

FCs with Victoria and Jason

8.  Graceland - Our last night in Memphis we all had the chance to visit Elvis's digs (more formally called Graceland).  I was in love.  While some may call it tacky, I thought the purple velvet curtains and green shag carpet were just perfect for this straight out of the 70s home.  I most appreciated his racquetball court that had been transformed into a giant display of his jumpsuits.  Well, that and his Convair 880 Jet.  New goal: marry someone with one of those.

Entrance of Graceland!

9.  7 hours at Memphis International Airport - This one is the sole reason this list was not able to be a "Top Ten", but it is definitely worth sharing.  After changed gates, 2 delays, a destination change, 2 more delays and temporary loss of luggage...I was introduced to my year of traveling.  It was as if Memphis was saying, "Welcome to the world of airports, Anna - not so glamorous, huh?" and I just nodded and agreed.  I wanted to cry the whole time, but held back my tears because, well, I was in public and that would have been embarrassing.  Lesson learned:  Flights will be messed up and I may not know where my luggage is, but life will go on.