January Schedule

Indiana University

• Beta Alpha
• Jan 4-14

Hanover College

• Phi
• 14-18

University of Kentucky

• Beta Psi
• 18-21

Emory University

• Delta Alpha
• 21-25

OFF 25-28

Northern Illinois University

• Delta Omega
• 28- ??

Fall 2009 schedule

District 1

1. Augusta State University

District 2

1. Murray State University


2. Methodist University

District 3

1. Bucknell University


2. Penn State University


3. Villanova University


4. University of Deleware


5. University of Maryland


6. Western Connecticut State University

District 4

1. University of Manitoba

District 5

1. William Jewel College


2. University of Arkansas

District 6

1. Cal State Chico


2. Arizona State University

The adventures of Eta Omicron (WestConn)... ;)

So, this post is coming a little late--but I have to update you on my visit to Eta Omicron, Western Connecticut State University.

Lets start with the fact that the visit was odd in the fact that the girls had already done interviews, but elections weren't until after I left. The old officers were essentially done with their position, and I couldn't transition the new officers--so it was just an odd time to visit. We made the best of it though!

1. It snowed my first night there! It was beautiful!

2.One of the nights I went shopping for Christmas presents with one of my roommates. We came back to find our building surrounded by police cars and police officers putting on their bullet proof vests with rifles. We tried getting in the building and they said we weren't allowed in and could wait in another building on campus. (mind you it was in the 20 degree range!) We jumped a balcony (on the first floor) and went up the side stairs. (Probably a bad move..) We got into our room and then got texts saying that there was a guy with a gun in the building. There were 4 of us home and we all went into the same room waiting to find out what was going on. The rumor mill/text chain was rediculous. We heard all sorts of crazy stories. We were eventually evacuated so that dogs could search the buildings. Needless to say--it was a crazy, scary, roller coaster of a situation. Mrs. Galentine (D3 DTD) was awesome. I called her so she was aware of the situation! I also called Annie (my boss) was at a dance class and told me if I called back and got her voicemail, that she'd call me back. Wow, if a gun situation can't get her attention, I'm not sure what will. lol Anyway--we were locked out of the building until around 130 or so, and got evacuated at around 830. It was a long evening to say the least.

4. I went to their semi formal which was my last night of the visit--and my last visit of the semester. It was really really fun! We danced all night! My feet hurt so bad, but it was so worth it!

This has been one heck of a semester and I couldn't have asked for a better experience!! I've met some amazing women along the way.. and hope I have made a difference!

I'm really looking forward to this semester! I have definitely found a rhythm and am loving my life more than ever! Thank you to those of you who share in my journey! I love you all!

Sad day..

I have had such a great visit here at Gamma Rho that I'm sort of sad to leave!! This was an ideal visit. The girls were great, excited about their new positions, absorbed tons of information and I truly think there are some amazing things in store for this Chapter!

It's always funny to me--because honestly my visit was relatively short. I was here 3 full days and 2 travel days (1 being tomorrow and I leave at 815 am.) I feel like I've known them forever. We accomplished so much in such a short amount of time. I love that aspect of this job!

My fave sisters here would have to be Ashley (standards) and Milynn (mevp).

This visit was fun because I actually hung out with them quite a bit. I went to a couple philanthropy events, to the movies and even shopping!

Tomorrow I go to Connecticut. I'm anxious to see how this visit goes. The Pres hasn't been super amazing thus far. I understand it's finals, etc. Hopefully when they meet me they'll relax! I tried letting them know that I'm flexible and understanding. I was in school not too long ago--lol.

Anyway--i should be going to bed. It's 130 here and I am being picked up at 6 am. YAY!

I <3 Gamma Rho!

So I have been at ASU (Arizona State) for the last few days and have had soooo much fun!! The girls are amazing and have really shown me a good time. I went to the movies with the Ashleys and we saw Precious. (What a graphic and sad movie...). I went shopping with 2 of the girls yesterday and we went to the mall... <3 it! I got a few things from forever21, 2 pairs of shoes and new makeup! It was a successful trip!

I went to an E-board meeting today and they went around the table and did high/lows.. A few of the girls that I met with said meeting with me was their high. It was nice because I truly feel like they have gotten a lot out of our meetings! I overheard some of the girls talking about how they have enjoyed me being here and stuff which was really great! We often don't truly know how much we're impacting girls.. so ya. We went to Olive Garden for dinner. It was delicious!!

Anyway, I have been so impressed by the new officers here. I'm super excited to hear all of their success stories! Last year was a rough one for them--and they are just really excited about moving forward which is great!

I <3 ADPi... SO MUCH!

5 days until I'm home!!

Fun fact..

Did you know that Arizona does not follow Daylight Savings Time? It's always the same time in Arizona.. no matter what time of year. I love learning new things!

I found that quite interesting!

Other news:

No James... SINGLE.

Reminder: no reeg talk anymore. lol

Went to forever 21 and bought a cute skirt, shirt, sweater and belt.

Went to Charlotte Russe and bought 2 pairs of shoes.

Went to sephora to replenish my make up.

No longer have a credit card bill!!

Feelin good!

I'm so grateful!

I would just like to say that I really know how to pick my friends! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! My cubic family, my diamond family, the lhs, my family (including the Carney's), the girls I've met on the road... I'm just very grateful for the people I have in my life!

My new life motto is this:

"Our happiness depends on the habit of mind we cultivate. So practice happy thinking every day. Cultivate the merry heart, develop the happiness habit, and life will become a continual feast."

I have found this to be ABSOLUTELY true!

(Side note) It's 18... EIGHTEEN degrees in Arkansas right now lol. Thank heavens I leave today lol! I'm going to sunny Arizona where it's .. okay maybe not--it's 42 degrees there! lol

Anyway- like I said I'm going to AZ today to visit Arizona State University (Gamma Rho Chapter). Super excited about it!! Officer training is fun and way better than a typical blah visit!

I already turned in my report for Delta Delta and I'm keeping up with my time sheet. I'm on the ball basically is what I'm saying!! Today will be a fun filled day of traveling! I love the time changes! My favorite part of traveling! NOT! This won't be too bad. On the 8th I go from AZ to CT which will be .. interesting!

I got a new book yesterday (new to me!). It's called 19 minutes by Jodi Picoult! I'm super excited about reading it! I'll let you know how it turns out!

love you all,

Ash

Lovin my mentality lately!

This new attitude of mine is stellar! I should have adopted it a while ago. It makes life a heck of a lot easier! All I worry about is me! No boys, no friends, no drama! I have really enjoyed my visit at UArk! The girls are lovely and my meetings with them have been good! There's really not much else going on.

O, I finished my book today! "Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult. It's probably the fastest I've ever read a book! Terrica (the pres) and I are running to Target tomorrow so I can get another one of her books! I'm obsessed! I feel so much more accomplished now that I'm not attached to my phone. I didn't even drain the battery today lol. I used one bar. That's a major feat! I've been reading. I've been spending more time on my reports. I've been creating different documents to better help the chapters I'm visiting. I mean, I've been a good lc so far--but I feel a lot more focused! I truly am enjoying my life, my job, and where I'm at. It's nice. Why it took me so long, I'm not sure! I think my turning point was my visit at the University of Maryland! lol I mean, it is helpful that it's election season. People are a lot more interesting when they're excited about their position. They're a lot more eager to learn and definitely more accepting ideas! I think that's definitely a component to why I'm enjoying the job so much lately!! YAY!

Well that's it for now!

Night

p.s. Today may or may not be mine and james 7 month, lol

On the road again..

It's my last day of Thanksgiving break. It has been quite a roller coaster. I broke up with James on Wednesday (because he was questioning L2). Now, he knows he wants me back and I'm not sure what I want. I do indeed love him... but I don't know if I'm willing to put myself back into a situation to get hurt by him again. It's such a hard situation. It's a decision only I can make. I don't know if I'm ready to make this decision. What's to say that he won't break my heart again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Right?

ReGe is mad at me yet again. Apparently the fact that she requested me to go to UD was a secret. How was I suppose to know that? WHATEV. I'm soooo over that drama.

I'm excited to get out of Florida. It's only 12 days.. which will be just enough for things to settle down. I want to 100% know that James truly loves me... and is in love with me and wants to be with me. I don't know if I have the strength to move on from this. We'll see I guess.

The day I get back, Jared gets in. We have a tacky sweater Christmas party at Jer's. I'm SUPER excited about that!

That's all for now.

I <3 my job lately!

The past week has been phenomenal. Personally, it's been a mess... but I have absolutely enjoyed the last week! Stefanie got to Bucknell just when I needed her most!! I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time. It was nice... it was refreshing! I feel like I got a little piece of myself back!

Installation weekend was amazing! Marcy came in town and she's great! <3 her! Mrs. Madio came into town which totally made my life! Mrs. G absolutely loves me now! Ha.. I'll break it down.

list of attendees: Stefanie (LC), Marcy (TME Director for D3), Liz (PD for BU), Mrs. Madio (Former International Prez of ADPi and formal Prez of the ADPi Foundation=Big deal!), Tammy Pinkston (VP of Finance), Mrs. Jack (Secretary), Mrs. Iacona (VP of Alum), Mrs. Gwaltney (International Prez), DVH (Dawn Victor-Herring--someone from the foundation), Mrs. Galentine (D3 DTD), Tiffany, Laura and Kristi.


Basically, Stef and I were the entertainment for the weekend. Everyone loved us! We gave Ms. Pinkston and DVH the "cool car" award! O, I forgot to mention. We had the SWEETEST rental car. It was an Acadia: black SUV with black leather seats. The mirror had a video of the rear view when the car was in reverse. It had a DVD player and seat warmers!! Stef and I were in heaven!

We added Marcy to the lhs which is super exciting!! Mar Mar is my fave!
ReGe has been as helpful as ever! James and I are going through some things--and ReGe is a great person to talk through things with!

JaMa is my favorite ADPi ever! It's kind of funny because I think Mrs. Gwaltney was a little jeal that Stef and I paid soooo much attention to everyone else vs the gwalt! We were crackin jokes with everyone all weekend. For instance, Mrs. Galentine is the International Officer that helps. (SO TRUE)... DVH and Ms. Pinkston were the cool car. JaMa was just our fave. Mar Mar was one of us. I mean really we just had a ball!

This was definitely my favorite part of the job! I <3 the people in D3.

Stef and I bonded a lot this visit! I never realized how similar we are! We got really frustrated because Laura wasn't extremely helpful and we basically did everything. But looking back, I don't think that I would want it to be any different!! I just really had such a great week! I miss everyone and wish I could be around them all of the time.

That's one thing that is super great about ADPi. You meet so many people that are like you.. or that you just click with right away. I truly couldn't imagine my life without ADPi and without the Sisters I have met along the way.

Speaking of Sisters, I have spoken with Ms. Siling quite a bit lately! I am going to see her over break and I'm super looking forward to that! I miss her!!!

I also just talked to Marcy (from ZZ) and she was filling me in on the adventures of Zeta Zeta! I still talk to girls from all over! I've gotten a few messages this past week. One was from Lexi telling me that i made a difference in her life. I have gotten messages from multiple Chapters which I think is really special. It has been an incredible journey so far, and I'm excited to see what's ahead!

Time for bed!

Love you mom! Thanks for always being there for me! You are special!

So, now I'm at the University of Maryland, Beta Phi Chapter. This is Stef and Tara's Chapter. It has been fun. The girls are super sweet and nice and are really interested in changing the Chapter. I've had some of the best meetings with this Chapter.

I miss the Theta Delta girls. Meg Laf and some others are trying to come up for BU install so hopefully that works out.

YAY I <3 ADPi!

Highlight of my life

I <3 the sisters of Theta Delta like legit!! Favorite visit of all times... them and Eta Rho and Zeta Zeta.. top visits thus far. I wish I didn't sleep half of my visit away at Eta Rho because I loved them!! (Stupid time change!!)

O ya, I went to Villanova and the Ellen Show came and did this hilarious thing for world series tickets! That was pretty much the highlight of that visit.

So ya, Theta Delta, University of Delaware are my long lost soul mates lol

I'm trying to figure out how not to leave.. I'm thinking swine flu, stomach virus, broken leg...I'm not sure but its getting down to the wire... ahhhh. They <3 ReGe as much as I do... they use nicknames as much as I do. They are fun and sarcastic and just lovely!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, I think I should be in this Chapter!!! The girls are SO funny because they thought the visit was going to be MIZ (miserable) because their past visits haven't been amazing like me! Mary and Meg Laf (fave) were the first girls I met. They told me later (after spending the first day and a half with me) that their original plan was to meet me, hang for an hour, and then drop me off at the alum event! ha ha they ended up asking me to spend the night, and hanging out with me the whole next day. lol I make really good first impressions! YES! I have enjoyed my visit soo much. The girls are great. I talked to ReGe about requesting my presence at recruitment. She said she was thinking the same thing.. but who really knows! lol

Anyway, I am getting sleepy. I am gonna use my brain power on a "lack of exit" strategy!!!

p.s. it's November 2nd---James+Me=8 months. CRAZINESS!

Eta Chi.. at Villanova:)

My visit to Eta Chi started off with a bang! I was super sad to leave home because my visit was AMAZING. I literally cried on the plane and then was picked up at the airport by Chelsea, a sister of Eta Chi. She met me at baggage claim and escorted me to the car as I carried ALL of my luggage by myself to the car. lol No help what-so-ever! She lost the parking stub so the lady asked for her drivers license. She didn't have that either. They preceded to ask me if I had my license which of course I did. They made us switch seats and made me drive out of the airport. Hilarious. I asked if we could stop somewhere on the way back to campus. I felt like the biggest inconvenience ever. I get to my "place of residence" where the sister that lives there isn't home. I tell Chelsea that she doesn't need to wait because she left her car running down stairs. I precede to call James. The sister (Gaby) comes walking down the hallway with my air mattress. I tell James that I will call him back. I get introduced to Gaby and Lindsey, two sisters of Eta Chi. I was very overwhelmed by the situation so I decided to step outside so that i can "make a few calls". I call James back (who already knows that I cried before I left, I cried on the plane, and now I'm miserable. I let him go because I feel bad, and don't want him to hear me being sad. I precede to call Tara! She answers listens to me cry hysterically about not wanting to be here and how much I miss home. Tara is a lifesaver!! I don't think I would survive this job without her. I talk myself in enough circles where I can stop crying and then feel bad for putting her through this yet again! I go back to the room and hang out with Gaby, who is such a sweet girl. I started feeling so much better and actually enjoyed my stay there. I have held most of my meetings, met with the Greek advisor (who is GREAT) and enjoyed the sisters of Eta Chi. They are a great group of girls and I'm glad I am not so sad anymore!! Its literally a choice that I make every second. I make the choice to think positively, to live in the moment, and to get the most out of this experience as possible.

I know this is a great experience and I am trying really hard to not allow my sadness of missing home get in the way of it. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have the rest of my life to be happy and in love with James! As Reeg said, it will make us stronger in ways that we may not even know! I love him and he loves me and I am going to make the most out of this job as I can.

23 more days til i go home btw.

This semester is pretty much smooth sailin' which is what I'm focusing on. I have two more Chapter visits then I'm at BU for 2 weeks which I'm really looking forward to. Then I go home for a whole week for Thanksgiving!! Then I go back to work for less than a month and then off for 3 weeks! YAY!! A whole bunch of time to visit friends, family and spend some good quality time with my favorite man in the world!

Next semester will be interesting. We go back to work Jan 4th and still get our 2 days off (which i totally didn't expect; so yay for that!) Then we get 2 days off in Feb plus we'll be at DLC for a weekend which means i will be with another consultant!! YAY! then we get 2 days off in march and spring break in April! and then we're done in may! When it's all written out it doesn't seem like that much longer, lol. YAY!

well that's it for now!

night!

It's been a while..

So it's been a while since i've blogged. I'm not exactly sure why.. As I mentioned in my last blog, I absolutely loved my visit with the cal state girls!!

After Cal State I went to visit the Sisters of Gamma Nu at William Jewel College in Missouri. It was absolutely freezing. The girls were nice and I had my own room! From there I headed to AtLanTa with the LHS!! All 8 of us had a mini reunion in Atlanta and we had a great time! From there I headed to the visit the Sisters of Beta Theta in Winnipeg, Manitoba--in Canada!!!!!! They were great girls.. really fun!

THEN I WENT HOME!!! It was great!! The best 3 days i've had in a while. I'm currently sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to Philadelphia. I was suppose to depart already however my flight has been delayed a few minutes.

James is PERFECT for me and I was able to see my favorite Diamond Girls at Sarah's Thatch Bach (Bachelorette party!)

It was a perfect weekend and I wish it didn't end so soon! The good news is I come home in less than a month and I get to stay for a whole week! lol

My schedule is as follows:

Villanova University, University of Delaware, University of Maryland, and then BU for their install!!!!!!!!!!! Then home on the 21st!!

I <3 Eta Rho!!!

So my visit at Eta Rho (Cal State Chico) was fab-u-lous. I loved everything about it. The campus is nice, the town is quaint, the weather is beautiful and the girls are amazing!! I wouldn't change a thing---well except for how tired I was the first 3 days!! It took me until Friday to get acclimated but of course now that I'm use to the time difference I'm leaving.

I loved the girls that I met. They would be my friends in real life!! They reminded me of girls from Epsilon Lambda which was nice. (A little comfort of home!!) I had such a great time with them!! I'll definitely remember this visit and hopefully keep in touch with some of them!

I wish I could have gone out in Chico. The night life sounds fun!! There is a bar literally down the street and it sounds like they're having a GREAT time!! I keep hearing music and cheering it's kind of funny. They have boys on bikes with little carriages to take people home. (i think the name is a peddle pusher?) I think it's hilarious and they blare music. I just saw two girls in one with glow sticks jammin home!! Its a great idea though.

Most everything is within walking distance from the house. How ideal is that!! You can literally walk to a bunch of bars, a bunch of restaurants, starbucks, jamba juice, clothing stores... i mean it doesn't get much better than that!!!

i <3 Chico and the sisters of Eta Rho!!

I want to come back and visit FOR SURE!

good night


o and p.s. I love James Wray Wickham

and mom, don't worry i will see you and spend time with you while i'm at home!!

Cal State Chico: Eta Rho

I'm loving my first day in Chico. Yesterday was quite the travel day!! I was coming from Lewisburg PA to Chico CA. Ok... Laura and I drove to the Harrisburg airport (1 1/2 away) instead of the Williamsport airport (less than 30 min). Then we realized and drove to Philadelphia which is where my connecting flight was anyway. Well apparently if you don't show up to your first flight, the whole thing gets cancelled. Therefor I had to make a whole new flight plan. O wait, this new flight plan goes from Philly to Las Vegas and from Vegas to Sacramento. O wait, I'm not going to sac, I'm trying to get to Chico! Call the girls and ask them to pick you up! lol

Luckily the lovely sisters at Cal State Chico are AMAZING!! They picked me up no problem and were superstars!! Chico is such a cute place! The girls have all been super welcoming and amazing hostesses!! I went to this place called madison bear garden and got this really delicious burger. It was recommended to me by one of the girls so i thought, "hey, why not!". It has this delicious peanut butter sauce! yum! I went for a walk today around the campus!! It was so beautiful out!

Anyway, thats it for now! BTW, super tired and it's only 430.

o what fun it is to be a kid again!

Laura and I had a great day! We decided it was a great day to take a stroll down Market Street. (It's the street right by her house..) It was a chilly day, but not miserable by any means. We call it "Stars Hollow" like on Gilmore Girls! It is a cute, quaint little town! We walked in and out of shops.. and just enjoying the town! We grabbed some lunch and then made our way back! On our way back, we stopped at the park!! We played on the swings, and raced down the slide... it was fantastic!! I haven't laughed that hard, and smiled that big, in a really long time! It was great! (pics/videos are on fb). We decided to go to this really cute restaurant (Elizabeth's something or another) but it turned out to be kind of fancy! It was excellent though!! We spent a good portion of the day out and it was fabulous!!

I got home and got the sweetest note from Maggie! (the President of Zeta Zeta!)

Thanks Maggie, love you and miss you tons!!

a new day... a new attitude?!

Well today was a much better day! I talked to James for a while yesterday which was very helpful as well as Travis. James has been great. I've been such a mess the last few days and he's been right by my side the whole time. Travis gave me the kick in the butt that I needed. (who knew!)

I actually like the little neighborhood that we live in. It reminds me of Stars Hollow from the Gilmore Girls! It's a quaint little town.. and the weather is gorgeous. I am going to start walking during the day. I've been running and the run is so nice, but walking down by the little shops might be a nice little way to spend part of my day!

I'm learning that sometimes you have to look for the good in each day. After a while, you'll start feeling better! Today was a good day. I got my errands done, and it was a lovely day.

Don't let the little things in life bog you down. Make the best of the situation. I'm only in this job for a year. It can be a miserable year, or it can be an amazing adventure. It's up to me!

Well, here's to one heck of an adventure!!

love you all

I'M GOING CRAZY

I am still at bucknell and I'm going crazy. I have one week left and then I'll be back on the road. I am looking forward to my next few weeks of travel. I'm looking forward to being busy. This past weekend, Laura and I drove to NYC to meet Jackie and Tara. We had a great time. We had dinner at the Hard Rock and then went back to Tara's parents house. It was a great trip and now it's even that much harder to get back into the work mindset. It's like the second you let your guard down, and let anything else other than the job come in, it turns into break down central. I came home yesterday, laid down on my bed, and my eyes just started watering out of no where.

It's such an odd feeling where your body starts crying prior to you getting sad. The sadness always follows though.

Anyway, today has been a blah boring day. I just want to come home. I just want to see James to be honest. It's awful that i feel that way.. but it's the truth.

I have not been productive at all today. What a waste. I wish I could fly home right now.

Bucknell is official! hah

So, this past week has been an amazing, exhausting, fun, annoying, stressful, learning experience! I learned a lot from the past week... how to deal with people, how to organize an event with no information, how to be a team player even when other people aren't playing, and how to wear a smile even when you want to pull your hair out.

First of all, I would like to say that I love Mrs. Madio!! She is what got me through this week without wanting to die. She was a past Internation President of Grand Council and past Foundation President..basically she is AMAZING and super important within ADPi! Either way, she is one of the sweetest, coolest, funniest woman I've met.

Secondly, my least favorite person... taught me a lot about how to do your job no matter how frustrating it can be. lol Which btw, I learned.. it can be VERY frustrating!

Anyway, this week was exhausting and a BLAH week, but sooo worth it for the 65 amazing Alpha's that we have at Bucknell! They are so cute and just a great group of girls. We have field hockey girls, swimmers, rugby, volleyball, rowing, softball... a lot of athletic people!! I am super excited to get to meet them--even though i'm only here another week. I think I will be coming back in november for their installation--but there is no guarantee.

I am super thrilled with this week even though next time I have a lot of ideas to make it more organized. Lets just say I'm glad that part is over--because now the fun begins!!

I <3 ADPi and I'm so honored that I was able to be at our recruitment for BU which will be our 201 Chapter (Theta Iota!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another great day in the life of me!

Today was another beautiful day at Bucknell!! The weather has been gorgeous. It's the kind of feeling where you walk outside, and you automatically smile without even thinking twice. There is no way you can be in a bad wood with weather like this. It's the perfect balance of a cool day, with a warm touch of sunshine, that creates the most perfect weather I've ever been in!

Anyway, today was a long day! I woke up and got ready for the day. I ran to target and the party store to pick up a few last minute items. Then I ran to the airport to pick up Mrs. Gwaltney where I got a $15 parking ticket for leaving the rental car parked by the baggage claim. It was SO embarrassing. Over the loud speaker they announced "Will the owner of the grey ford focus please move your car? Your car has been ticketed and will be towed in ten minutes." So of course everyone on this flight (the only flight to come in) was starring to see who would go to move the car---so of course it's me!! Yay!! Gotta love my life! lol

We went back to BU where we did our presentation for the girls interested in ADPi. I definitely don't bring the professionalism to the group---but I sure as heck bring the personality!! hah!

We then had a nice dinner with Mrs. Gwaltney, Mrs. Madio (a former international president--<3 her!!), Tiffany, Liz Yates(a PD in D3, <3 her too), the greek advisor, his wife and a couple of girls from Pan. It was fun and a nice way to end the day!! I'm excited because tomorrow starts the official recruitment interviews!! AH!!!!! Bid day is Thursday which will be super exciting!! I can't wait to get started!

I'm off to bed!

LOVE YOU All

don't hold a grudge

I had such a great past two days at delta kappa (Penn state), and for those of you who have read/heard my story from Sunday night--know that my prior experience wasn't ideal. This scenario reminded me that not every day is promised to be ideal, but I shouldn't lose faith in the sisterhood of ADPi.

Reminder: your attitude is an option. You can choose to be miserable, or you can choose to make the best of a situation and throw on a smile. The amount of effort is the same, so choose wisely!

I am now back at bucknell, and I'll be here for a while!!

My address from now until oct 5th is

36 S. 8th Street
Lewisburg, PA 17837

I love you mommy!!!!!

My October Schedule!!!!!!

Currently
Today-Oct 5th, I will be at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA.

October Schedule
5-11, Cal State, Chico, CA
11-14, William Jewel, Liberty, MO
14-19, ATLANTA!!!!!!!!!!
19-22, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, CANADA
22-25, HOME!!!!!!!!!!
25-30, Villanova University, Villanova, PA
30-?, Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE


Just a reminder, if you want to mail me anything..like a love note, a card, a whatev, my mailing address is

1386 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA, 30306

k, thanks!

love you!

Penn State (DK)... not all it's cracked up to be!

So today I arrived at Penn State for recruitment. Let's just say the Chapter isn't exactly what i expected. Maybe not the chapter as a whole... but the President definitely doesn't seem to want me here. I don't know that people truly understand why I'm here.. or even the purpose of my visit. I did as much as I could (which wasn't much) and yea... There has been no preperation for my arrival. (Meaning, no parking pass, no sleeping arrangements, no meal plans.) Luckily I didn't get hungry because not one person asked if I needed anything. I am staying with the Chapter Advisor, Kelly, in her one bedroom apartment. I feel bad because I feel like I'm invading her space. She and the Province Director aren't exactly pleased with the Chapter! O, I forgot to mention, I also got a parking ticket today! yay! Kelly grabbed it off of my windshield and was like.. the Chapter wil lbe paying for this!

It has been an interesting day 1 to say the least. Wish me luck tomorrow!

ahhh!!!

I will be home in less than 13 hours!! I am so excited to see my sisters!!! Cristalyn, Sar, Brandi, Lindsey!!!!!!!!!! Yay for all of us "pi's!"

I am so excited that i can't even begin to think about sleep. I feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve... AH!!!!!

Yay, i love home!

ahhh, so proud of theta epsilon

Tonight was pref night and they pulled it off! They were not very organized, but these girls get the job done. They do well under pressure and are good at memorizing last minute. I kid you not, they didn't go over it until 30 minutes prior to the party and it went perfectly. They will be handing out 23 bids tomorrow.. and their current Chapter size is 36 girls. This is a major accomplishment for this Chapter. Their school only had 140 freshman girls... that includes non traditional students, commuters, etc. They would have been happy with 10.. and they are giving out 23 bids to 23 amazing women!



I am so close to coming home that I can taste it! I talked to Cristalyn and Sarah today which made me so excited about seeing the girls from epsilon lambda!! AHHH!! I miss them so much!



Anyway, tomorrow we're handing out bids and then doing alpha ceremony! It will be an easy day. Hopefully it goes by fast because I leaver fairly early on saturday!!!!!!!!!!!

yesterday was sad, but today was much better!

Yesterday was definitely my hardest day on the road. I'm not exactly sure why, but I woke up just feeling blah. All of a sudden tears started flooding out and then I just couldn't control it. Luckily I was alone or that could have been really awkward! I sent a message to the consultant girls and they were all so great! Jackie and Stefanie both called, Laura and Tara sent me a message and I talked to Britt today and Lauren sent me a message today! I couldn't imagine this experience without these girls. They truly are the only people that understand what my daily life it like.

I also talked to Ms. Siling who snapped me out of my mood, James who talked to me for a while, and ReGe who was fabulous as always. It's nice knowing that I have people who care enough about me to talk to me until I feel better.

Last night I got a good nights rest, I woke up and ate something and then went for a run. It was a good start to the day and I'm trying to make sure to take care of myself even on the good days so that bad days don't hit me so hard. James and ReGe both made sure that I realize if i don't eat and drink enough that it will affect how i feel. i have been getting headaches again, and I guess not eating enough is a prime reason for getting headaches (good to know!).

Anyway, theta epsilon has been doing a good job with recruitment. They had over 25 girls come out to their events which is awesome for this campus. Nationally, we would have been happy with 10 girls, let alone 25. I go home in 2.5 days and am super looking forward to that.

my schedule for the weekend:

Saturday:

• arive at 1?
• go home eat dinner [(james doesn't want the chicken and corn beef... he doesn't like caserole dishes apparently?) maybe we could do pork chops (with applesauce for me) and something else.]
• go to epsilon lambda to help with recruitmetn

Sunday:

• james is kidnapping me all day!

Monday:

• LABOR DAY!
• Pref day/bid night with adpi
• the fake draft with james
• see bonni and the fam

Tuesday:

• leave to bucknell to see laura!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats all I have for now!

love you all

Travel day!

Today I traveled from Augusta, GA to Charlotte, to Fayeteville, NC!!! I sat in row 1 during my first flight and the seats faced the back of the plane. It was kind of crazy! I felt like I was on a rollercoaster during the taking off and landing.

My first flight was running a bit late which allowed me to get into Charlotte 15 minutes prior to my connecting flights departure time. Luckily they were at the same section just a different number so I didn't miss my flight although they were waiting on me:( During my connecting flight I also had to walk from the plane to the airport and it was FREEZING. It was a chili 68 degrees in Charlotte and guess what? I was wearing my little yellow dress. Maybe now that summer is ending, I should start checking the weather forecasts of where I'm headed!!

I'm getting nervous about my visits in Pennsylvania because I'm worried it is going to be freezing. I don't do well in the cold and hope that I'm not miserable! hah

That's my day thus far!

Tonight is Methodists greek info night and recruitment begins tomorrow!!!

I love ADPi recruitment!!!!!!
hah, 5 days until I'm home!!

Is it bad that i don't want to leave?

So this was the best visit ever! I know I've said it a billion times, but I have fallen in love with them. Today was one of the best days ever for me. It was bid day, and all of the alphas looked so excited! They made quota which was 13... and it was a long week and their first formal recruitment.

My favorite part of the day was after the alpha ceremony. I have been asking for positives of the day, every day, all week long! Tonight we went around the cirlce and everyone gave a positive of the week or the day. It was an amazing moment because people shared how they've grown closer with each other, how they've enjoyed this last week, how they love the alphas, their diamonds, etc.... Idk. Laura, the RVP expressed her appreciation to the girls for working so hard, Maggie spoke about the importance of keeping it going and her appreciation, and i was just so sad to have to leave these girls. I tried to tell them how proud I was of them.. and was a giant mess of tears. Marcy was crying.. it just was awful!

The girls have been so sweet to me, telling me how much they appreciated me, and how much I've helped. They said I should miss my flight, that the Chapter would pay for me to stay and chip in for food. It was just really sweet the way they accepted me into their Chapter. I literally didn't feel like an outsider this week. I was one of them. I feel like I've been a part of the Chapter for years.. and I've been here for 10 days.

The bond of sisterhood in Alpha Delta Pi is something truly undeniable and remarkable. It's something a lot of people don't truly get and I feel so fortunate to be apart of this amazing organization. Our motto, "We live for each other" is something that truly does define my experience on the road.

PREF day!!

Today was pref day for Zeta zeta! I am so proud of them!! I feel like I'm part of the Chapter and I'm super excited to see who walks through our doors tomorrow afternoon! I am anxious and nervous .....AHHHHH!!!!!!!!! lol

Anyway, I really do feel at home here. Everyone keeps telling me that I should stay and that Monday will be a sad day. I completely agree. It's going to be hard for me to leave them. I started thinking about it tonight and I could feel myself getting more upset than I thought so of course I just made myself go run around and do a million things to preoccupy myself. There are girls in this Chapter that i have just fallen in love with. :(

ANYWAY!!!!

This week has been crazy and long hours just like recruitment at Epsilon Lambda! It has been such an experience helping these girls do it for the very first time! I have gained a lot from my experience here and am trying to look forward to my journey ahead.

I will always cherish the sisters at zeta zeta and the love they have shown me. I still have tomorrow so my time is not over yet!! I am excited about bid day and will let you all know how it turned out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHH!! It's 230 am btw, and Mrs. Matthews (member of Grand Council) is picking me up at 9. PeRfeCt!!!!!

Round 2!!!

Today was skit day!! They did a wizard of oz skit and it was precious!! There's no place like ADPI!!!!!! The girls did a great job!! They had two parties (full parties) and it was just awesome! I have grown to love these girls. This experience reminds me of exactly why I wanted to take this job!
These girls are awesome and are working so hard to be the best Chapter possible! They have been so sweet to me and I'm going to miss them. Ive been working with them for like a week and a half... Monday will be a sad day. Luckily I'm going back to Methodist so I will be greeted with happy familiar faces! After Methodist I'm going home and then to bucknell which will be a nice transition I think.

One week til I'm home!! Yay!

Heres my upcoming sched:

29Tomorrow: Pref Day parties start at 7pm
30Sunday: Bid Day starts at 3
31Monday: fly to Methodist, Info night
1Tuesday: Philanthropy Night
2Wednesday: Entertainment Night
3Thursday: Preference Night
4Friday: Bid Day
5Saturday: Bid Day cook out, HOME!!

Round 1 of recruitment!

I was super impressed by the girls of Zeta Zeta! Yesterday was their first day of formal recruitment EVER! I was soooo excited for them.. kind of silly! Anyway, it was a great day! They had a lot of alumnae support which was nice to see! I got home around 1130 or so. It was a long day but take a look at fb... the room looked precious!

Today is round 2! I'll keep you posted! We get the list at 4 of who will be returning!

What a fabulous day (w/ZZ)... REALLY!!!!

Today was SO fun! I don't know why, nothing special happened... I just love these girls! We set up the room tonight and it's coming together! The last people there were Maggie(the pres), Aleesha(my roomie!), Lexi (love her!), Kristin (my sista!), and Marci (Advisor!) and we just had so much fun. Maybe it was just me! lol Afterwards Lexi, Aleesha, Maggie and I went to waffle house! Yes, it was like 1030pm.. not the healthiest choice but DeLIcioUS!

Tomorrow is the big day!! Recruitment begins! Lexi is picking me up at 930 and we're going to be running around doing errands all day! I'm soo excited, I love her lol! Mrs. Maisch comes into town tomorrow afternoon. I'm also looking forward to that!

Something great happened to me today: I needed a suggestion of ideas so I texted the lovely ladies of the lhs and everyone responded back to me with an idea! how sweet, right!! They really did live for me, and its just amazing to know that there are women out there that I can truly always count on!

ALSO: big news!!

James and I are dating on facebook!! It's official now! lol

I am going to bed with a smile.. which is a nice change from how I've been feeling!!

Hm...Coming home was interesting...

I don't even know where to start....lets just say I wish I had more time?!

Lets see! First of all I was able to see JAMES!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!! It was great--everything I was hoping and more!! We went to the clam which was the one thing I really wanted to do while I was in town! Jill, Amber, Nick, Jamie, Tally, Erin and Wes all came and it was really fun to see them!

I was able to eat lunch with Jenn and Tara on Sunday which was fabulous as always! I found out that I am going to be a BRIDESMAID!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHAHAHAHAH!! lol I'm super excited about that.

My mom--I wish I would have seen her more!

This visit was a very stressful one. I guess I didn't think about how crazy and stressful dividing my time up would be.. it's way harder than one may think. I literally had 2 full days and 2 travel days. I got in on Saturday at 5 which gave me time to eat, time to get settled and then going out (which was the one thing I planned for my weekend).

Sunday I had a great lunch followed by some family time at James' parents house! It was our traditional Sunday dinner and I had a great time!

Monday I went to the movies with bonni, erica, Sunny and Tate!! It was great seeing the kids---I have missed them soooo much! We saw bandslam and tate got really bored! It was priceless.

Basically that was my weekend. Sorry to those who I didn't get to see or get to spend as much time with you. As you can see--there isn't that many hours during my "time off". I think I spent more time worrying about hurting peoples feelings than I needed to.

I really ended this trip feeling as though I don't want to come back. I got hastled more than I needed to. All I want is a little understanding.

Anyway, I am back in Augusta and will be home in September. My flight is already booked so i'll be there. i'm not making any promises of who i will see...

If you see me, great---if you don't, please understand it's not personal. PRomISE.




From now on, I may just not tell anyone when I'm coming home. It will be way easier.

I leave in 12 hours!!

My trip at Augusta has flown by. I'm quite surprised... I was expecting it to be slow because of going home but it didn't! The girls are super sweet and it has just been nice and easy. I don't really have a ton to say. They are a great group--and everything is going well.

Now, I leave at 1247 from Augusta, stop in Atlanta and I am suppose to be home at 419pm. Hopefully everything goes according to plan. I haven't had any delays thus far--so hopefully my streak continues!

I am super excited to see everyone!!

Welcome to Augusta State!!!!!!

Today I traveled from Fayetteville, NC to Augusta, Georgia! Jessalyn took me to the airport this morning where both of my bags were over 50 lbs yet again! The lady let me go with both bags being over. (One at 52 and one at 54 lbs.!!!! GOD BLESS HER!)

I took two planes to get here; my connecting flight being in Charlotte. The plane from Charlotte to here was 9 rows. I literally was seated under the wing. Yes, under! Pics will be posted on facebook to show you what I mean!

I arrived in Augusta and was taken to the apartment where I'll be staying!! It feels like a palace... I have my own room. The place is beautiful and it's a 4 bedroom place that only 2 girls live in. (I will be roomie # 3!) It's funny the daily things that we take for granted. This apartment to most wouldn't be anything special... but the fact that I have my own room, my own desk, a nice and clean bathroom, feels like I'm a celebrity staying in a 5-star hotel! CRAZINESS!

Today I arrived SO tired. I don't know why.. but I almost feel like I'm being a bad LC. I apologized for being "anti-social" but I just felt like I didn't have a ton of energy to give. I finalized a few flights today with Kim, I talked to their CPD and DTD; I responded to emails, and unpacked.

I went for a run on this cute little trail behind their apartment. It was really nice, and definitely needed. I haven't done anything physical in quite some time, so it was nice that it's just right there.

Tonight is their Panhellenic Installation dinner!! They are the second sorority on this campus which officially starts their Panhellenic! Crazy, right? I'm excited that I'm able to attend!!

Anyway, that's it for now!!

Love you all, and guess what?!?!?!


3 more days!!

Methodist :)

So, I love it here, but at the same time....there is SO much drama! It's not crazy or weird drama...it's high schoolish drama! GRRRRR!!!

We're in college ladies! Get over the small stuff! Learn how to communicate like adults and let it all go!

Anyway, I really do love all of the girls. I love walking around campus and waiving hello to so many people! Everyone is so friendly. I not only say hello to the ADPi girls, but the boys on campus too. There is 70/30 guy to girl ration at Methodist. CRAZY. They have all been so nice and welcoming to me.

It's funny because Cliff, the Greek Advisor, is moving soon and his job will be available in about a year--which coincidentally is when I'll be done as an LC. The girls all want me to move here and take that position! It's cute! I am really glad that both Chapters I've gone to like me. (Hopefully that continues!)

I got my first charm today for the charm bracelet that I'm going to be making! I'm super excited about that! I had dinner tonight with 2 of the girls and an advisor. It was SO much fun! I really like that I can go up to a good number of girls here and totally jump into a conversation as if I've known them forever!!

ADPi really is a sisterhood that goes beyond my Chapter... that goes beyond my collegiate years! I have really enjoyed my first two visits more than I could have thought possible!

Yesterday, Jessalyn (the Chapter Pres) and I drove around campus blasting the music and driving through Fayetville just for fun! There isn't much to do here, but we have been making the best of it! I've been eating in the caf (cafeteria) a lot! James tried to teach me proper diet... I'm getting a lesson when I come home because it's so hard when you have NO CONTROL of what you're eating most of the time!

Anyway, I love Epsilon Omicron and Theta Epsilon Chapters!! They have made my first visits so enjoyable!!

4 more days until I get home!

CELEBRATION TIME!

Methodist... Theta Epsilon

I have enjoyed my stay at Methodist... the girls are super sweet and I've loved getting to know them! Last night the school had this event, Monarch Madness, with games, a dj and food. It was so much fun! They had this guy called "the mentalist" perform in the theater last night. It was so neat! I don't know how he did the tricks he did, but it was really crazy! Everyone in the audience loved it! The music was so good outside. It was probably the closest I will get to going out ever! ha

Anyway, I am getting super excited about going home soon! 6 days until I am with all of you! HA!!

Here is what my sched is lookin like:

Saturday: land at TIA
go home and see the madre!
dinner with James
Drunkin Clam: Everyone is invited!!


Sunday: Church
Lunch with cube fam


Monday: Dr. Appt at 11
hopefully hang with sunny, tate, bonni

Tuesday: Leave home and head back to Augusta

Anyway, I look forward to seeing you dear! You too mommy!

Love you,
Ash

Methodist Day 1

so yesterday was fun!! I left Murray State at around 10 to head to Paducah airport! I flew from Paducah to Memphis, Memphis to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Fayetville North Carolina! Yes, that is 3 flights!! I continued my flying record of talking to everyone that has sat beside me in the plane! So fun! Everyone has been so nice!! The flights were really easy and didn't last that long!! I arrived in Fayetvile at around 645 and headed back to Methodist!

Jessalyn (the pres) and Cecelia picked me up from the airport! We went and dropped off my luggage at the dorm that I am staying at and then we left and went to make tshirts with some of the other girls. The tshirts were made because they helped the freshman girls move in this morning! Such a good idea, right?! Anyway, I met with their Greek Advisor today and he was amazing. He had a lot of great ideas and really had the girls best interests. We talked about how I wanted to be a GA and he gave me a lot of good advice!! The girls are lucky to have such a supportive person on their campus.

I've been hanging out with the girls all day. It has been a lot of fun!! The girls are so funny and just remind me of friends from the olden days. They are so sarcastic and jam out to music just like I do! ha

Anyway, I just wanted to keep you all updated! I'm going to get running.

James, I love you!

Mommy--hope you are doing great!!

TT--soooo great talking with you tonight!!

Murray3

Today was such a great day! This was Murray's first day of recruitment! I was a little curious to see how it would go, but they did such a fabulous job! They looked cute and their room turned out really well.

The girls in this Chapter are amazing. They are so sweet and have been so welcoming to me! I love them.. They have just made me feel at home here making sure that I'm never sitting alone, or being bored or anything. Tonight Jessica thanked me for being there in front of the Chapter and everyone cheered and stuff and they gave me a present... so unexpected and thoughful of them! Girls came up to me after the meeting and hugged me and thanked me for being there!

Such a great way to end my visit in Murray!

Murray2

Today was fun... different but fun! It's interesting to see how the girls do recruitment and the whole attitude/mood of how it's perceived here. The girls have been super sweet and just nice girls. They have a very mixed group which definitely influences the dynamic of the Chapter but I have loved getting to know them. Hopefully I've been helpful. I went to breakfast with the Finance Team, lunch with the Standards team, and dinner with the Panhellenic girls. I had a really good meeting with the Pan girls. It seemed as though we made a connection and that I influenced them and gave them some useful ideas. It's so hard to tell if you really help them or not. I mean, I know the appreciate any help..but my goal is to really impact someone in a big way... who knows!!

lol.

Fun fact about Murray--I have yet to go to a meal with the girls, where some older person (a stranger) from their community has come up to them and talk to them about one thing or another! Isn't that sooo intersting?

Tomorrow is the big day. Day 1 of recruitment for the murray girls. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it goes! They have worked hard, so I am really hoping it pays off!

I'll let you know how it goes! I am going to hit the sack!

LOVE YOU,
Ash

Day 1...Murray State (EO)

So this was my first official day on the job as an actual consultant!!!!!

Let's start with this morning. I woke up at 7am to get finished packing. We had decided to take 2 cars to take Brittany, Tara, Laura and Stef to the airport. My flight left later so I wasn't getting dropped off yet, and Jackie and Lauren were getting picked up later. So we split up in to two cars and did our first round of goodbyes. Let's just say I kind of freaked out!! Tears were pouring... it was AWFUL. Jackie and I went in the van to take Tara and Brittany to the airport. (Annie took Laura and Stef.) That was sucky too. Then Jackie and I drove back to Executive Office to meet Annie to go back to the aiport to drop me off:( On the way we called ReGe for a motivational pep talk.. which was definitely needed! We also called Julia to wish her a happy graduation! YAY

Anyway---then I went to the airport. I lugged my bags in (2 huge suitcases, laptop bag, and puma carryon) and went to the bag drop. I threw my bag on the scale.. 52 lbs. So I proceed to take stuff out. I get it down to 50. Bag #2, 52 lbs. I proceeded to take 2 lbs out and put it in my laptop bag which was already overflowing. Mind you, the puma bag wouldn't zipper shut and probably weighed 30lbs. O ya, and I had a sephora shopping bag that probably weighed 15 lbs. Needless to say, after walking from the baggage drop off to the security entrance, I was already exhausted! I got through security and walked to my gate and was literally dead tired. I actually didn't even make it all the way to my gate before I sat down because my bags were so heavy. Pathetic, right?

Basically, today I realized that I need to get rid of some of my stuff because I won't make it through the month at this rate! I had to buy a suitcase today (from Irene, super sweet lady!) in Memphis during my connecting flight because I couldn't hold it any longer.

O, I forgot: let me tell you about the 2 planes I road in today!

They were tiny little planes that I had to walk outside and climb up tiny stairs to get into the plane. I went from Atlanta to Memphis, Memphis to Paducah. The Paducah airport is one tiny building with 1 baggage claim. Look on facebook for pics. I took a ton!

I left my new bag of makeup and my wallet at this aiport. Luckily I was 1 of maybe 10 people that went through the aiport today. Lol. There were like 3 people that worked in the airport. They were super nice though! Great customer service for sure!


Anyway, I made it to Murray just in time to eat dinner with the recruitment team! They are all super sweet. We went to their suite after dinner to meet the rest of the Chapter and they sang and practiced pref etc. I'm still hanging out in the suite--it's 2 am eastern time.. which is 1 am central--the time zone i'm currently in. I went to bed last night at 2 and woke up at 7 so I'm not running on much gas. I am a bit tired..but I'm pushin through! I have a 9am breakfast meeting with the finance team! Gotta love my new life!!

Good bye Atlanta..

So I was just looking for a good quote since we are all leaving tomorrow, and look at the one I found.

"Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven."

How perfect, right? lol


I don't even have enough energy to write everything that's going through my mind right now. I'm not nervous or anything... just sad about leaving the girls. I know we're all going to be fine. Everything always works out and stuff.. it's just I've become so accustomed to being with these girls for the past 3 weeks. I have loved every second of it... and it's coming to an end.

I am almost done packing. I still have to get my stuff out of the training room (which is locked right now). I also need to weigh my suitcase.. because if I'm over 50 lbs in either suitcase, I'm screwed! lol

Anyway, we talked to ReGe tonight which was really fun. She gave some good advice and it was just nice to sit together and just think about the next few weeks.

.. it's 2:04 and I need to get up sooo soon lol. I will update soon!

LOVE YOU AND GOOD NIGHT!

What a night!!!!!

OMG, funniest night.

First of all, we went shopping ALL day at the lenox mall in the ATL. I spent WAY to much money.. but got a lot of great stuff!! I went to the limited, the loft, and sephora and spent a few hundred in each... OUCh, right! I got a suit and a skirt at the limited (saved $100), 2 shirts and a skirt at the loft, and tons of makeup at sephora. Needless to say, I WILL be lookin good!! ;)

I also got my hair cut for $25 by a junior stylist and this cute salon. She was awesome and did such a great job! We finished the night by eating at the California Pizza Kitchen. It was delicious!

We got home around ten and saw an extra car in the parking lot and a cop coming out of the church next store... All the lights in the house were on.. it was just all such a big coincidence and we freaked ourselves out. Needless to say.. we called EVERYONE we could think of.. including but not limited to the following.. annie (our boss), tiffany (EO staff), jocelyn (EO staff), re ge (RD), amanda g (old LC), stacey mauney (EO staff), ms. charnock (grand council), mrs. matthews (grand council), mrs. gwaltney (ADPi National President).... it was rediculous but at the same time, we were legitimately scared for our lives. There are only 6 of us here tonight, which is such a weird feeling. Generallly the house is full of staff and we people staying with us. Tonight it's just us.. and Julia is back at Auburn getting ready for graduation and Laura is back at home for another wedding!

Tiffany and her dad ended up coming to our rescue inspecting the outside of the house, turning on the alarm, and locking us in safely! It was very nice and made us all feel better about the situation. Years from now we'll still be laughing about this night... but truthfully, at first it was no joke.

I think that's all for today...

Tomorrow is our final day here for a while.. I already cried when Julia left today.. so I'm sure tomorrow and Monday will be no picnic.

Love you all,
Ash

Last day of training

Today is our last day of training. We train until noon and then we have off the rest of the day and tomorrow off. It's a weird feeling. It's almost feels like the last day of camp... except the only difference is I'm not coming home.



I have loved every second of my experience here. I'm super excited about Monday but I'm also very sad about leaving the girls. The girls I have spoken with who I will be visiting soon, are super sweet!

Feeling much better!

Yesterday was quite the day! I woke up feeling a little under the weather; a headache that hurt my eyes and neck. The girls were so sweet... taking care of me, getting me medicine, wrapping the blanket around me, etc. It was nice to know they cared enough about me to take care of me, when basically I was just not with it all day. They even said they missed me while I was gone, and that it wasn't the same without me. How sweet!

GC and Tiffany made me go to the doctor.. and by doctor I mean the CVS 1-minute clinic. I got some ibuprofen and that was that. I have been sleeping a lot better so hopefully I will feel 100% soon. I still feel a little tired today, but much better than before!

Everyone keeps saying they don't want me to be sick on the road.

Training with Grand Council has been a breath of fresh air. After fearing everything while meeting with the DTD's, I think our confidence in ourselves has been boosted by Grand Council. Mrs. Matthews, Mrs. Gwaltney and Ms. Charnock are all really nice and definitely approachable! It's been fun getting to know them and working with them this week.

I have been getting upset about us all leaving on Monday. It's weird.. my eyes tear up almost immediately at the mere mention of us leaving. I don't like thinking about it.. but at the same time, I know this training is coming to an end.

One week and counting...

Today it hit me that we have one week left before going our seperate ways...

When it was mentioned today.. I started tearing up. I'm talking instant tears. Everyone probably thought I was a little rediculous but in the short time we've been here, we've all established this unexplainable bond. All 8 of us are part of the group.. all as equals which apparently isn't the way it usually happens. We do everything together! We are supportive and encouraging, silly and playful. We stick up for each other and are just amazing!! ha

Anyway, it was such a fun day!! We had training on what to talk about during a greek advisor visit, ethics with Mrs. Ablard and philanthropy with Mrs. Todd.

We also did a photoshoot for ADPi gift mart!!! I don't know what the pictures will be used for ... but either way it was a legit photoshoot.

I love you mommy!

p.s. I bought 2 sweatshirts and a luggage tag today!!

Glad that's over!

So, the past two days our lovely District Team Directors gave us some very intersting training. They were a little overwhelming, and some very interesting personalities!! Mrs. Kunkel may be my favorite because she's hilarious! She's definitely a realist.. and we have some really fun memories from her!

Some of the others ... not so much fun! But I still love my traveling sisters! We actually got to go out for dinner last night!! We went to this Mexican restaurant down on highland and it was fantastic! It was a great way to end a crazy two days. We laughed a lot.. I feel like I mention how much we laugh but it's only because during the day.. we are training the whole time and have to be in "serious mode" so whenever we have free time, we laugh and joke around.. which is just nice!

We went out to a local bar.. and guess what? It turned out to be a gay bar.. it was quite funny because we clearly didn't realize so we walked in (all 8 of us still wearing our pin attire) and we got some interesting looks. This man looked at Lauren and was like, "I love your dress!" lol.. needless to say, we didn't stay very long.

We came home and laughed some more and then all went to bed!

What a great end to a not so fabulous day!

What a long day...

Today was going well .. but my emotions started kicking in.. it's my continuous battle with my self that I deal with monthly lol.. plus I'm exhausted and it's just awesome to feel like you could cry at any second...

The girls have been really great and really supportive and my GV sent me so quotes and gave me a big email hug, lol.. .which almost made me cry.

I am doing my best to control everything I can, and not worry about what I can't.

I haven't talked to James at all today which is probably a good thing because I would probably start crying, but at the same time.. it's weird not hearing from him at all.

The DTD's are crazy... kind of funny actually. They are an interesting group of women! Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up feeling like smiles and sunshine!!

good night

what a great day!!

Today Mrs. Weaver came and did Panhellenic training! She was FAB-U-LOUS!!! She was exactly what we needed! After the last couple of trainings, we were starting to get really bad at faking paying attention! We all loved her! She is a teacher, and is very well prepared to make things interesting and somewhat interactive!

We speed through the day and it was great!

I printed out some of our pics so we all have a copy to take on the road with us!

The District Team Directors just arrived. Training with them should be fun!!

I'm going to go jump in the shower, and go to bed!

Super long weekend ahead of me!

love you all,
Ash

Even Laura was on facebook...

Today we started the day off with Kim, who is the ADPI's travel agent. It was fun! We were full of energy and listening to music.. it was just fun!! Well then we had Jimmy Johns for lunch and went back for more training. Tori Smith came to talk about alumni... Not to be rude, but it wasn't the most exciting of presentations.

We got in trouble for lack of attention but we've been working really hard on our personal presentations! We are suppose to be working on ADPi presentations that we will be presenting to Grand Council in a week. We decided that we wanted to know more about each other.. so we decided to make personal presentations including your background info, friends, boyfriends, etc. It's been a lot of fun!!

We are still laughing.. and it's getting worse!! We are hilarious!! Megan Wheeler (Pan Relations Director for D2) came tonight because she is doing our training tomorrow and I'm pretty sure we scared her at dinner. We were in rare form.. discussing the LHS. Annie was there as we were questioning her on fun facts of the LHS. We were loud and crazy and I think she may have gotten a little overwhelmed!

Either way, we are having a blast!!

All is happy here!

Fun quote for today: "All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others." Michael Carr

Welcome to Macon!

Today was the perfect day!! It was amazing!! We went to Macon for the day and had a fantastic time!! The 7 of us and Annie rode down in the mini van and Julia met us there. We made up all of the stuff for LHS and it was so funny! We all get along so well and laugh a lot! I love these girls, everyday gets better and better! We took a lot of amazing pictures! O ya, I forgot to mention. Last night we went to the mall and got matching dresses from American Eagle! They are blue and white with a cute little sash! We walked around and the reaction was priceless!

We started the day at starbucks where we all got a lot of stares! Jackie completed her order by telling the girl that her name was Eugenia. That's E.U.G.E.N.I.A! lol, it was priceless!

We then drove to Macon and took pictures at the Cannon Ball House, Hubble House, Wesleyan and Eug's grave site. It was a really great day!!


Lauren and I did Cardio Core which was the final touch to my day!!

Also, we're working on our wish list for the LHS!

It was exactly what we needed! A perfect day together, outside!!

7.26.09

Yesterday was a really AWESOME day of training.. NOT! We met with Tiffany and Kristi to discuss expansion and colonization. It was a painful training that only lasted 3 hours. lol

Anyway, we all went to the movies and saw The Ugly Truth. It was fun! We got Moes on the way home and it was delicious!


YAY, we're going to get Thai for lunch today!! YUM! gotta run

Okay, I'm back. Today's training is going okay. Nothing too exciting but not boring by any means. Our lunch was pretty good! It was nice to get out of the house!

GOOD NEWS! I think I am getting sick.. I had a really bad headache last night and I was cold a lot. Today I woke up freezing with a runny nose and just feeling a little more blah than usual! I'm keeping my head up thus far! We ran to CVS during lunch and I got some chewables and liquid dayquil and nyquil!! I'm trying to beat it before it gets bad.


I'll keep you updated!!

Hi Mom!! I know you actually read this everyday so I hope you're doing great!!! I love you and hope you are not too lonely without me!!

Lindy Honor

I just wanted to let you all know that my little emotional sadness last night didn't last long! We all decided to go out into Atlanta last night and had a really great time!! All 8 of us went out to a few local bars...similar to a downtown where we parked and then walked around. We played never have I ever and just got to know each other just a little bit better! We came back to EO and dance partied and hung out.. it was hilarious! We met FiFi last night which is Julia's other personality! That was fun!

Anyway, other than the boring training that I've been doing today, all is well!

love you and miss you all!

Recruitment Training!

The last few days, our primary focus has been recruitment. Mrs. Snow and Rebecca Gentry did a great job explaining the ins and outs of Recruitment. We had 2 really long days, with 1 day lasting for 15 hours total, but it was awesome. They are amazing women and people I aspire to be during my ADPi career. The girls and I are having fun! Chatting at night, sharing meals, stories, laughter and fears about what our journey ahead will be like.

I have a lot of emotions right now. With the long days, and a lot of sitting, I can feel my emotions starting to vary. I am excited about what's coming and everything that I will be experiencing but at the same time, I am starting to get into the rut of missing home. The immediate excitement is wearing off now that we've been here a few days.. and with the long days it has just been different.

I love the girls and we're having a great time... it's just those few quiet moments that I am struggling with.

If you would like to send me something lol, my address is:

ATTN: Ashley Ehrman
1386 Ponce de Leon Ave NE
Atlanta GA 30306

This address can be used all year. They will mail the stuff to the Chapters that I will be at, so you can send me post cards and stuff while on the road! This would be really helpful and motivating... and a lot better than a fb message or an email! I need all the love.. (homey love)
that I can get!

Love you all,
Ash

Day 2

So, today was another good day!

We woke up bright and early and learned how to effectively use our computers! Unfortunately my screen back light stopped working yesterday and my computer is now out of commission! (I'm using Jackie's right now, in case you were wondering!) We then had a "Welcome" breakfast and met the staff that works at E.O. We then had training from Omega Financial (which I've done before so that was SUPER exciting). We also learned the house rules and about payroll. We got done fairly early today. We all made family dinner and sang the ADPi blessing before we ate! how precious! We then took a trip to this really large Target! It was fun, lol. I have been deemed the official designated driver of the van, with Tara as my co-pilot! We all seem to get along really well and it's been fun getting to know everyone!

Lauren, Jackie, Laura, Britt and I did a Denise Austin boot camp dvd today that had us dying laughing. We did it in this little tiny room by our bunks and all I can say is "Shake it off" ... it was rough!

EO is super cool. We're getting the tour from a historical perspective tomorrow. I'm looking forward to that! It's an actual house with a living side and an office side. It's almost like a musuem. I will take pictures and upload them somehow. There is so much cool stuff...and it is such an honor to be living here! (Kind of surreal!).

We got assigned presentations today that we will be delivering for Grand Council in August. Mine is on Social..When where and how? lol Everything has been pretty easy so far..but tomorrow if like official training day 1. For the next few days, our focus will be on recruitment. This coming weekend will all be on Expansion. Recruitment will be my primary focus for the visits I've been assigned thus far. I'm going to 3 spirit weeks and 3 recruitmetns and then I will be at 1 Colony. I'm looking forward to the next few days. They are suppose to be filled with a lot of info, and pretty full and long days.. but I feel like it will be our first bit of useful information!!

Anyway, I think that's all my new info!

Thanks for reading along!

LOVE YOU ALL!

Training day 1!

So let me tell you about my day! I woke up this morning at around 9 am. My flight left at 1pm so I had plenty of time to get my stuff together and go! I went home to my mess of clothes that I had piled in my suitcase in the living room. Luckily, Bonni was on her way to help me decide what I needed to take out. We took a huge stack of things that I wouldn't actually need out. My suitcase ended up weighing exactly 50 pounds which was priceless!! One more outfit and I would have been out of luck.

James took me to the airport and it was perfect because there wasn't enough time to get sad at all. We checked my bags.. which I had to pay for. I ended up paying cash and the lady had to go to some safe which took like 15-20 minutes for her to come back. I ended up taking the shuttle to the other side of the airport at 1240. (plenty of time, right?!) Well I was texting Bonni how grown up I felt, when I heard "Ashley Ehrman, please report to the gate, this is the final boarding call! So much for feeling grown up, right?! I started laughing but panicking at the same time! I asked the security man what I should do, and he said wait in line. (He was a very pleasant and helpful guy..lol NOT) So I go through my line, picked up my shoes and literally sprinted to my gate. The lady at the gate was like "Wait, we have a runner!" lol Anyway, needless to say I made it on my flight and to Atlanta on time as scheduled!

We found out our first months schedule too! On August 10th, I am going to Murray State University in Kentucky, which is followed by Methodist University(NC), Augusta State(GA), back to Methodist, back to Augusta State then to Bucknell(PA), followed by Penn State... then the week of September 13-18th I would be going back in forth from Bucknell to Penn everyday!

We have 8 girls total and 5 will be at colonies. Tara, Brittany and I are going to be the main travelers but will help out with the other colonies and new chapters. Julia will be at Washington and Lee. Stefanie will be at Drake. Lauren will be at Wake Forest. Jackie will be at Quinipeak..I'm sure I spelled that wrong. Laura will be at Bucknell.

We are all super excited to know our "assignment". I will be off August 23-24 and Sept. 5-6. I miss you guys! Thanks for reading! I'll be back soon!

Less than a week until I leave for training!

It's crazy to think that I am leaving in less than a week for training. The whole process has been so long, so it's weird that it's finally here. I turned in my application a while ago! I went through my interviews and found out in March that I was chosen to be a 2009-10 Leadership Consultant! Now it's July and I'm about to embark on this journey that I have been awaiting for so long!

This week has been an interesting one. I have so much on my mind that it's hard to focus on one thing. I have begun packing...but that is no easy task! I am allowed 2 suitcases, a carry-on, and a laptop case..(I think!). I am trying to be smart about the things I bring...not over packing, not going above the weight limit...not taking everything I own! I am trying to figure out what outfits I actually wouldn't mind wearing all the time, which shoes are comfortable enough to wear, how much is too much, or not enough!

The thing is, we still have no idea if we are traveling or being stationed at a colony. The packing styles are different for each. For a colony, you will be living at a set place for a long period of time. You are allowed to wear more casual clothes meaning lots of jeans, tshirts, flops etc! Now if I am traveling, basically I need all pin attire (business attire), maybe 1 pair of jeans. Either way, I have a huge black suitcase filled with every pin attire outfit I own, a few pairs of jeans, ADPi tshirts, a few different sets of pjs, athletic clothes, and too many shoes to count!! I know I should go through and take stuff out, I just haven't figured out which things I won't need!

I need athletic clothes for any philanthropic activity that involves hard work! I need jeans and letters for events, tons of pin attire, outfits for all weather climates! I also need everything I use on a given day; straightener, blow dryer, make up, toiletries, medicine, etc. This is no small task!

Anyway, the other thing I've been stressing over is all the people I will be leaving behind! That sounds so gay because I'm not going to a different country or risking my life, and I know I'll be home to visit. It's just weird not being able to see whoever I want, whenever I want to. James, Bonni, my cubic family, friends, my mom etc. It's weird trying to see everyone one last time before I go. It makes me sad, but at the same time, I don't think this whole thing has hit me yet. I have cried a few times because of the unknown with James, but other than that, I don't think I have truly gotten to the mindset that I am actually leaving.

I want you all to know, that I will miss you terribly! I will be just a phone call away so please don't hesitate to call! I also got a new phone with Internet and picture messages lol. I know, I'm a little late but now I will be sending you stuff whenever I get the urge! I will take lots of pictures, and blog about the days in the life of a Leadership Consultant! I hope you are ready for this adventure!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog!

This blog is not only for me, but for all of those who have asked to tell them what goes on in the daily life of an LC.

I will share funny stories, good experiences, lessons of the day, etc.

I will try and keep you updated on where I'm going etc so you can be on the road with me and keep me in your thoughts and prayers!

Love you all,

Ashley