I'M A MOM!!!

What a craaaazy two weeks it has been. But I am proud to say I am now the proud mama of 25 new precious Chi Omega babies. Last Saturday Sept. 4 was BID DAY and after a long, tiring recruitment week, we were able to welcome home 25 new little ones. We had a very interesting rush week... the rules changed a lot and the rushing rate was low... but nevertheless the girls that were supposed to come join us are now proud new members.

Rush was so bittersweet with it being the first of many lasts for our seniors and my good friends. Lauren Surwic (right) joined Chi Omega with my pledge class but was a sophomore transfer from Memphis. Lauren intimidated me from the start... She's bold, confident, vocal, and more than I knew how to handle. I never anticipated her to become one of the most loyal, trustworthy, incredible friends I've ever had in my life.. much less the funniest. I laugh everytime I'm with her and I've learned more from her strength and trust in the Lord than I ever would have expected. This semester being her last fall as a college student is starting to sink in. Watching her grow up to become a woman of the Lord is challenging me in my own faith and it started to kick me in the butt last week as we cried on Pref night.

I'm surrounded by Lauren's up here and it was so fun to share Bid Day with my best friends. This year I was in charge of planning and coordinating everything for Bid Day since I'm the new pledge mom, so I was a tiny bit stressed out... But all week long my Lauren's were willing to do whatever I needed to help me get through, even listen to me cry about the surprise I got in my tshirt boxes.. but we won't go into detail there!

This little friend and roommate of mine also got me through the week and the day. Kendra is my assistant and she was such a blessing to have right next door sharing a bathroom and listening to my last minute thoughts of how to put everything together. Could not have pulled it off without her!

Bid Day was a busy day but so fun. The girls got their bids and came running to the house for cheers and chants and so much excitement I could hardly stand it. We took pictures outside and had fun proudly showing off our new little ones.

my best friends :)

After pictures we had pledge class skits and let the babies introduce themselves and say why they became a Chi Omega. I loved my girls who were already talking about red and yellow running in their veins! After lunch I had my first meeting with the new ones and just welcomed them to Chi Omega. Let me just brag on them for a bit... we have so many precious girls who love the Lord. We have athletes, scholars, dancers, and so many sweet hearts I could bust! We are so lucky!

After our meeting we had a little break and then decided to have some spontaneous sisterhood time with messy games outside.. it was SO FUN!

We played kickball, did messy games, and concluded with a little fountain bath :)

Later that night we had dinner at the house together and let the bigs-to-be and the new ones do speed dating. They got a chance to talk and get to know a few, then we let the seniors play hot seat... it was rather interesting and maybe a little extreme for a first night! ha welcome to chi omega, ladies :)

afterwards we had a Crazy Chi O Sisters Before Misters party.. It was so fun to see the girls deck out in their chi o stuff and just go crazy! We had SUCH a fun day.

Props to all my sweet friends who helped me make it through the week, and Ethan for listening to me breakdown a couple times, and all my mom's encouragement throughout the past couple weeks, and sweet Stacey doing everything and then some... more than I could ever imagine! I could not have made it without everyone's support :)

Now its time to get to know my sweet little ones and truly use the next three months to invest in their lives. I cannot wait!!!!

Rho beta for life.

I get by with a little help from my friends.

precious new roommates.

What a crazy few weeks its been, already! I moved in just over a week ago but I feel like I've been here forever. Rush started as of yesterday, so once we make it through the week I know things will calm down... but I can't help hoping that the semester is not this crazy.

Rush is such an interesting week, a necessary evil, but really I just cannot wait to have my new little babies running around and getting invested in Chi Omega. I've been praying for these girls who are anonymous for months now, so to finally have faces to go with their sweet hearts is going to be such a blessing. I just am praying for good time management and the willingness/ability to be open and available and vulnerable with these girls. What's the point of doing something if you can't share the love of Christ in the process???

I can't wait! It's been such a fun time seeing old friends again and remembering exactly what I love about school, life in Jackson and Chi Omega.

I missed this one.

annnnd these are my roommates, don't worry.

oh and with some help.....

we finished the tshirt quilt!!!!

birthday round two..

This past week flew by, but in a good way.. School is finally getting closer, which seems weird. Ethan moved back to school Friday, but not before giving me the sweetest birthday surprises.

Wednesday he picked me up and took me straight to World Market where he got me this beautiful jewelry box I'd be eying... eyeing? wanting. 

After our shopping adventure, I got to open the mysterious birthday box he had brought along. Inside I found four envelopes, each with a different restaurant labeled on the outside.

I had to choose one envelope (Habanero's obviously) which contained a sequence of options that would determine the rest of our plans for the day. In addition to the date plans, I got a phone call from a different friend each 30 minutes throughout the day to sing me a birthday song. Props to Olivia who rewrote this most awesome song on her drive from Waco to Jackson. Hilarious.

At lunch I got to open the envelope and choose Bruster's for desert, so we had ice cream and went to visit our new favorite, K nation.

Next was soccer in the student building, naturally, followed by shopping at the mall and running some errands. We spent the evening with Ethan's family at his house, and had a little visitor return for birthday cake and presents. I've officially adopted her as a part of my chi omega family.

After birthday round two, we spent the next two days just enjoying the end of summer.. swimming at the pool, being lazy and eating a lot of good food. Friday I left for Jackson to meet some friends and head to rush retreat at Natchez Trace. Haley planned everything and did an incredible job. It was so fun to see everyone again and get in the rush mood... One week from today I officially head back to school and all the craziness begins. I cannot wait to get 30+ little ones, meet new friends, and finally put faces to these girls I've been praying for for months now. I am eager to see the ways the Lord allows me to invest in these girls, and to pour into their lives through the ministry that ChiOmega can be when used as one. I am so excited!!!