Kansas Beta turns 100

So let's do a rewind back to the last weekend in March when I went back to my alma mater with 850 of my sisters.  Ha- no but really.  It was the Kansas Beta Pi phi chapter's 100th anniversary and my oh my did they put on a celebration.  And it was so fun that so many of our Kansas Beta sisters made it back to celebrate!!

I haven't been back to Manhattan in a long time and boy has it changed!! So many new developments popping up and all the things that we didn't have in college (they even have a chick fil a now!!).

But truly, it's weekends like these that make you realize that man oh man somehow you got so lucky in life to be blessed with just the most amazing friends.  Friends that have been with you through both good times and bad and friends that just get you.

And also a few friends that haven't changed one bit in size or there spunky personalities- like Van.  Case in point- she STILL fits in the cabinet outside the bathrooms in the chapter house and STILL has a good attitude about getting in it and scaring people. 

Pretty much this moment while we were all touring the chapter house (after a delicious lunch at so long saloon!!) made me realize that while we may get older...some things will never change.  And it made me so happy!

What else made me happy was how AMAZING the house looked!!  The house corporation has done wonders in the past 5 years or so since I've been back.  The updated furniture, decor and wall colors and carpet seriously looked amazing.  I especially liked the Kansas Beta bench in the entry way.  Maybe Maddie will sit on it one day as a Kansas Beta Pi phi? (No pressure, Maddie!)

And what trip back down memory lane at a place that holds so so many wonderful memories is complete without a picture outside??  We have SO many of these over the years and had to get just one more!  Seriously love these ladies so much!

And in usually fashion, after the tour, we headed back to aggieville for some day drinking at Porter's.  The weather was perfect and the company was even better.

A few of us did make it to the banquet that evening at the Hilton - and while it might not have been the best food (yes, Coco Bolos would have been better and cheaper!), it was fun to get dressed up and hang out with some Pi Phis from different pledge classses.  Older and younger!!

I loved seeing so many women that I have worked with over the years through Pi phi as an active member, an alumni volunteer on the AAC and as a regional adviser.  It gave me an itch to get back involved, but we will see how that goes.  My plate is pretty full with kiddos and work!

Best part? Finally got some pictures with my little sister!!  Haha.  She claimed we haven't had one since my wedding (not true)- so I made sure we got some good ones. 

Love her!!

And then we ended the night BACK in aggieville. I wish I would have taken more pictures or stole them from Van!!  But I did get a shot of my $2 pounder- you should have seen our faces when the bartender told us it was $5.75 for my beer and her run and coke. Gotta love college prices!

Emily and I were held against our will in Aggieville - haha - by Van.  Lol - just kidding.  But we were staying at her husband's parent's condo and Chesney was driving us and Courtney (dr. seacat) wanted late night Hunam - so we pulled up our big girl panties and stayed out.  Luckily, we stopped drinking in time so we were not hung over.  But we did get some Pita Pit - AND watched our friends that MIGHT have had one too many drinks enjoy some Chinese food and make some interesting conversation with other drunkards in line.

I will NOT type the funny things that were said, but let's just say they will not be a forgotten memory (thanks Gart!)

It was nice to be away (my first night away from Miss Maddie) while Jimmy held down the fort at home - but it was so nice to come home.

These girls.  My college friends.  My Pi Phi sisters.  They really are one of a kind.  I literally never thought that decision that I made as a 17 year old starting my freshman year of college would shape my life - but it has because of these amazing women that I met and have been friends with through thick and thin.  They are amazing.  We are there for each other in good times and bad and I am so lucky to call these women my friends.  Through engagements, heart breaks, weddings, marriages, pregnancies, lost babies, new babies, new parent struggles, lost parents, lost siblings, etc.  The things that we have supported each other through is amazing and I feel so so blessed for each of them.  Our arrows for sure have an extra bit of sparkle.

Until next time Manhattan....

Artisans & ANGELS = success

Last Saturday was the annual Artisans & Angels event sponsored by the Pi Phi Alumnae club in KC to raise money for the Jordan Robert Mann Foundation. This was the 3rd year this event was held and it was quite the success, if I will say so myself! I did have the pleasure of meeting Jordan during his short, but wonderful life. He was one of my pledge sister's cousins and I remember meeting him when he came to K-State one time and thinking how great he was. Everyone that I knew had such wonderful things to say about him and it's so inspiring how much he impacted those around him and made the world a better place through his passions, activities, and love for life!! Here is a little bit about him and the JRM Foundation from his website:

Jordan was born and raised in Prairie Village, KS where he attended Briarwood Elementary, Mission Valley Middle School and was a 2003 graduate of Shawnee Mission East where he played soccer and was named to first teams, All State, All Metro, All Sunflower, and All Johnson Co. He was a member of the National Honor Society, National Beta Club, National Honor Roll, Principals Honor Roll and Kansas Honors Scholar. His senior year he was awarded the Art Newcomer Outstanding Student Athlete Award. He continued playing collegiate soccer at Furman University in Greenville, SC and Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, TX where he was selected to the Southern Conference Honor Roll and Conference USA Honor Roll. At SMU he was a major contributor to a nationally ranked soccer team, and in 2005 played in the collegiate Final Four tournament. He graduated from SMU in May, 2007 with a degree in Finance.

Jordan’s hidden talent resided in his artistic abilities in portraitures and random works that he painted, photographed or drew when inspired.

Jordan is remembered for his winning smile, his spirited or ornery sense of humor, his intuitive, innovative, intelligence, and his entrepreneurial spirit. He also had an insatiable love for all animals.

Jordan passed away unexpectedly on May 26, 2007 of a congenital heart abnormality that was undetected as he had no symptoms. The family has chosen to honor his life by establishing the Jordan Robert Mann Foundation which funds heart health assessments for athletes at participating schools, hoping to prevent any family from experiencing a similar tragedy. Their long term goal is to change how the medical community assesses and evaluates heart health in all athletes. 

MISSION: To honor Jordan's passionsby developing programs that challenge conventional theory regarding heart health and enhance the quality of life for others.  

OBJECTIVES:Phase 1: Implement pre-participation cardiovascular examinations at select NCAA institutions. Clinical data will be secured in an Institutional Review Board protected prospective registry intended for academic publication. Phase 2: Develop and implement an age-based pre-participation heart health assessment protocol for high school athletes utilizing readily available non-invasive and inexpensive technologies.

Phase 3: Establish a position paper emphasizing the value of pre-participation cardiovascular examinations, which can be used for local, regional and national programs.

I also had privilege of serving on the planning committee with some awesome women, who also happen to be some of my wonderful friends. It was so much fun working with them to plan the event and having our regular "meetings". Let me take a second to introduce you to them before going into the details of the event:

Haha - I just thought that was funny - love these girls!  But we had a great time helping each other get the event details organized and working with his mom on getting all the donor letters and invitations out. While the planning started way back when...let's jump to the event!

It was held at ARTichokes, in Mission Farms, which is a wonderful art studio that is a great space for the event. There's Lyssa at the check in table and the signs next to the table talking about the event and highlighting an alumnae club event :)

Here was the wall where Jordan's art was on display for everyone to see when they first walked in. He was truly an amazing artist!

 

Next up are some of the artist's tables where they had their items on sale from 12-5 and then during the actual event from 6-9 as well. There was some great stuff this year - including some awesome stemless wine charms and Jordan's aunt had some of her fabulous angel paintings for sale! Lots of artists were very happy with the sales made that day and loved the event - which is great!!

Don't forget the silent auction table and items - there was some GREAT stuff this year!! 

 

And Pi Phi was representing with cookie cutters and cook books for sale!

And finally - a few of the wonderful bartenders and waitresses, who were local pi phi members from KU and K-State that were so awesome to give up some of their weekend to help out with this event

Overall, it was a blast and we raised a lot of money for the foundation and had a lot of fun!  So glad I was able to be a part of helping plan it.  So thanks to everyone that was able to make it out for the event :) 



 

Happy 95th Kansas Beta!

October 9....Emily and I headed to Manhattan, KS to meet up with a bunch of wonderful friends in our pledge class '03 in the Kansas Beta chapter of Pi Beta Phi :) The current women in the chapter had quite the weekend planned! The first event we attended was a luncheon at the house where we got to see the great changes that have been made since we left (new bathrooms FINALLY!) and see a lot of familiar faces from other alumni, older and younger. It was great!! Best of all, we walked around the house together and talked about all the memories we had in those halls, in those sleeping dorms, and even in the bathrooms...haha. But BEST of all- we pulled out an old trick that Van played on lots of people when we were in the house....she hopped in this random cabinet in the hallway and would scare people. Is was freaking hilarious. And guess what?! About 5 or 6 years later---she still fits :) HAHAHA. I tried to look for the old picture of this, but guess what? I think that was pre-facebook pictures. Wow, that was a long time ago!

Good friends outside of the House of Pi

And YEP- we hit up the Porter's patio pretty much the whole afternoon. Very fun!

Then Vanessa and I headed to the banquet because she was a speaker! She got to talk about what Pi Phi means to her after all this time :) She did a great job! We even got to sit at a fancy table with Mom T and the president! It was very fun and amazing to think that 95 years ago women founded the Pi Phi chapter at K-State. The world was so different then and to have come so far and still be quite an amazing chapter full of wonderful women is pretty awesome! We are all very lucky to be a part of it!

But then of course later...we hit up Aggieville for quite the adventure. And what do you know? The first 2 guys I run into....Calen and Alex! Lauren and Rachel's younger brothers! So funny. Needless to say we had a fun time!

I'm still waiting for some more pictures to be posted on facebook, so maybe more later? But I will say, it was a complete blast to be back in Manhattan again with lots of good friends. Also, it was like a big slumber party all weekend because Lauren's parents just moved to Manhattan full time and were SO kind to host us all weekend in their fabulous house!! It was so great to just to talk before we went to bed and wake up next to friends! Can't wait for the next reunion or trip---maybe Mexico for Courtney's wedding or a trip to VEGAS? I think yes!

STL here I come

Tomorrow, bright and early, I'm off to the other side of the Mississippi (aka STL) for a 4 day long conference with Pi Beta Phi. One new addition to my life, among other things, is a new role with Pi Phi, which I'm very very excited about!

The last two years, I have served as the Financial/Housing Advisor for the Kansas Beta chapter, which is in wonderful Manhattan, KS and where I was a student! It was quite the experience, especially since I started this role just a year out of college- but I learned a lot, loved working with the girls, and for the most part really did enjoy giving some of my time back to an organization that gave me so much for 4 years!

This past summer, there were some changes within the Region 5 officers and I was asked if I was interested in taking on a new role, as the Regional Financal/Housing Advisor. I work with a team of women, who each support different chapter officers, to support the 15 Pi Phi chapters in all of Region 5. I was a little nervous, but with my work as an FA those past 2 years, I thought I was up to the challenge- especially with a wedding and most of the big house projects out the way! I accepted this new role in August and have been trying to catch up ever since...and find my replacement as the Financal/Housing Advisor at Kansas Beta. Good news---I found a wonderful alumni who we are starting to train- so excited about that, since she'll be working with me!! AND while I do have to take two days of PTO from work, I'm really pumped about this conference so I can learn more about my role and better equip myself to answer some of these questions that are pouring into my inbox all week!

So, I'm off to learn how to "Coach a Winning Team" until Sunday! Wahoo! Which means Jimmy is sans-Brittany for the next 4 days. Surprisingly, he has been a little upset about asking me:

- What will I eat?
- Who will I talk to at night?

- What will I eat?

- Who will make the bed?

- Who will take the dogs out?

- Who will do my laundry?

and finally....

- What will I eat?

It's funny how after 5 months of being married he's already so dependent :) Haha. Well, I answered him with this:

- What will I eat?- you are 26, go to the store

- Who will I talk to at night?- the dogs are probably better listeners than I am
- What will I eat?- seriously? go buy some frozen food
- Who will make the bed?- probably no one, unless you train Milly, Willy or Toby
- Who will take the dogs out?- if I come back to pee stains on the carpet, I will not blame them
- Who will do my laundry?- you can do that hunny :) after you put away your clean clothes from last week that are still folded in your hamper....
and finally....
- What will I eat?- I mean if you are really that upset about it, call your mom! She fed you for 25 years, I've only been at this 5 months!!!

The little dogs will go to my parents on Saturday because only Toby is allowed at the bachelor party that Jimmy will be hosting for his little brother Bobby this weekend! At least he knows he will have a FUN weekend. It's a Carter boy "slumber party" at our house Saturday and I'm happy not be part of that fun :) I am sad I have to miss his fiance, Hillary's bachlorette party, but don't worry....I sent a fun gift!

Well, soon it's off to the arch!