Callin' Baton Rouge

Oh the memories of Calling Baton Rouge at karaoke on Tuesdays at Mickeys :) I finally got the chance to visit the city! LSU's campus was gorgeous, and staying at the KKG house was so much fun...the house director and all the ladies made me feel right at home.

Sleepy Mike

On my campus tour, I got to meet "Mike the Tiger," their live tiger mascot! I know my cousin Brittany would love this, too bad Cedar Falls High School didn't prioritize and get us a live tiger to keep at the school :)

Mike swimming and pouncing at the windows when this old guy known as the "tiger whisperer" showed up. It was WILD how crazy Mike went when this guy showed up!

Along with taking another girl and me out for some Fro-Yo, the wonderful house director Jo Ellen took me on a driving tour of Baton Rouge, where I got to see downtown and the Capitol. No other building can be taller than the Capitol, and it obviously stood out in the skyline.

Also, New Orleans was only an hour away! I had no idea it was that close, but unfortunately the whole no-car scenario for me this year limited my ability to go for a quick visit!

Sorority Row is all on Lakeshore drive, and literally RIGHT on the lakes of LSU. It was so gorgeous, and I definitely took advantage of the scenic paths around the lakes and walked/ran them everyday...and didn't get lost! Impressive, right?

View walking out the front door!

Front porch looking out to the lake.. I could get used to this!

LSU KKG House.. home for the week!

I technically had the weekend off, but got to stay on campus and just hang out for the weekend, so I spent Saturday taking a self-guided campus tour. I also got to see Sam, a Kappa from ISU who transferred to LSU, it was so great to see a familiar face even just quickly!

Reminded me of Beardshear..only with palm trees surrounding it.

Memorial Tower and the LSU Stadium!

Closer up to the Memorial Tower! (almost at 11:11, I might add)

Off to Auburn now, Tigers to Tigers!

x's and o's from the south. Love ya'll! 

Allison

Oh, and how could I forget to include some of these SKYPE gems :)

Skype in 3D? Nice try.

Insisted on the cat skyping, too......questionable, I know. ;)

Grandma Ruth getting crazy!

The norm.

Missing my baby brother!

UCF: Under Construction Forever

...or at least that's what this school is known for.. and I think its great, makes me feel like im on the ISU campus again! 

But I honestly can't think of a more happy, sunny place (minus the occasional random downpour in the afternoon/evening)! Brianne and I got to Orlando on Sunday 8/7 after a direct flight, so we had an easy travel day! I was nervous for the first visit, so it helped a lot that Brianne and I are together for our first visit. After getting picked up and lugging all our massive suitcases out to the girl's car that picked us up from the airport, SHOVING both our huge suitcases, carry ons, and purses into the car we were officially ready to go! Meeting all the Eta Eta Kappas has been SO fun, and its even more fun to make crazy connections. The VPO here, Sarah, is from Nebraska and her sister was a Kappa at Mizzou with Lizzie Casper's (a Delta Omicron Kappa a year ahead of me) twin sister there. Of course, all the Kappas here know Sareena as well, and I did my part to creep on all the composites to find her:

Spotted: Sareena Helton, Membership Chair :)

Its crazy to see all the hard work the Eta Eta Kappas put into recruitment here and completly decorating and cleaning out Sigma Chi and practicing all their songs/bump groups etc. Makes me miss Ames and Kappa there so much as I know they are doing the exact same thing there at the same time! I'm so luck to get to experience this and give back to Kappa, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Unfortunately, my knee is still screwed up from the Sturgis Falls 1/2 marathon (i'm too stubborn for my own good, should have listened to my nursing friends and of course Lizzie) so I'm stuck with going on walks in the morning. So far I haven't gotten lost so that is a good sign.. but i've come across some interesting things:

 Where the Sidewalk Ends...Shel Silverstein anyone?

 1. University High School?

2. The Cougar is their mascot.... but I don't know what they mean by wishing a "great cougar summer" upon people...haha

And of course, my personal favorite... BABY PALM TREES!!!

I'm probably such a tourist... its fine.

Also, we got to go down to City Walk at Universal Studios and have dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.... minus the margaritas, BUT it was so fun! There were fireworks going off, clearly in honor of Brianne and my visit ;) 

All of us after dinner!

(Don't ask me why we are blue in this picture.. my camera must have been on a weird setting)



ALSO: Finally caved and agreed to skype with my parents and my little brother Kevin.... These pictures don't do it justice. Still unsure whether or not signing them up for skype was a good idea or not... ;)

These pictures speak for themselves...

I'm so blessed and couldn't be happier! Wishing the same for all the other LCs and my family and friends around the country.

Love you all!

x's and o's from Florida!
Allison

Beginning of the journey...TRAINING SCHOOL!

So, too bad I’m not as creative as the rest of the lovely LC’s… but I’ll do my best with this blog. I think that the endless possibilities of awkward moments for me while traveling will make up for it, though :) (i owe Lizzie for being able to embrace these awkward moments and make the most of them.. HAHA). 

SO after biking part of RAGBRAI on the last day to Davenport, flying out of Moline on Sunday to Detroit to meet up with 2 other LC’s, Emily and Haley.. It was so exciting to finally start to be reunited with everyone, but it was a little awkward/embarrassing when a flight attendant who observed our reunion asked us if we were all sorority consultants (note we were NOT wearing our letters or anything that would identify us as sorority consultants), so I guess our excitement was a dead giveaway.

Its been great getting to know staff at HQ, meeting with different Fraternity officers, and bonding with all the other LCs, the CC Kristen and our lovely Field Rep Coordinator, Mary.

We’ve been working hard, but having fun, too, and I can’t wait to get started traveling! :)

 We've got mad hops!