Alpha Chi Omega (Work and) Fun at the Beach 2014

I spent Saturday and Sunday with the FSU Alpha Chi Omega for their 2014 Executive Board Retreat at St. George Island. The house this year, Aisle of Palms, was beautiful, and ideal for a conference or special event. Gorgeous, right?

It was clear and sunny on Saturday when we arrived. Here is the view from the deck: 

It was beautiful but chilly. We worked inside all morning and afternoon, setting goals, identifying strengths and opportunities, bonding, and planning

In the late afternoon, we went outside to take photos of each exec board member and of the group as a whole for the chapter's website, blog and instagram. (Thanks Jenn for the action shot!) 

It was really cold out on the beach! And windy!! In this one, you can really see how the wind was blowing everyone's hair around!

We did manage to get some really great pictures near the water:

We moved up to the pool deck and had great light and a little bit of shelter from the wind

In all, I took 180 photos on Saturday! 

We had a pretty sunset on Saturday (above) and awoke to a warmer morning Sunday that quickly turned into rain. I captured the double rainbow off our front deck (facing the street and the bay) right as the weather moved in.

The weather went out as quickly as it had come in, and luckily we ended up with a beautiful day - sunny and close to 60 degrees. More advisors arrived Sunday so we had our own mini-photo shoot: 

After a morning of small group meetings, some outdoor time was welcome. After lunch, I packed up and headed back home (with my travel companions, Tara and Meagan). What a wonderful time with good friends and an impressive group of chapter leaders. If this retreat is an indication, they can look forward to a great year!

FSU National Champions at Football!!!

Even though it's been a few days since the BCS National Championship Game, it's still hard to believe that FSU really won. Perhaps this comes from too many years of being a Cleveland sports fan, during which none of my teams have made it to the finish and won that big game when it mattered most, but it's hard to even take in the moment. I guess we'll just have to celebrate a little.

We have been season ticket holders for ten years now. The team has always been good - never below .500, always invited to a bowl game. We've been to big games that they've won and to big games that they've lost. We've sweated and nearly gotten heat stroke at some games and gotten soaked to the bone in the rain at others. It's always fun and such a blessing to have the opportunity to experience great college football in person.

I'm going to be totally honest and admit that I didn't have the fortitude to stay up and watch the whole game Monday night. The anxiety was about killing me. I kept taking breaks to clean the kitchen and do other chores to distract myself from what looked like it might turn into a full-scale implosion. I also knew that if anyone could rally, it was this team. That's why I'm not surprised that I woke up to hear hubs yelling at the top of his lungs at the television when Kermit Whitfield returned the kick off for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. I got to see the celebrations after the game which was awesome.

I wanted to share a few things in honor of the big win. First the video post-game summary and second a little video of our new championship flag.

T's New Inflatable

We have a new fall yard decoration, and even though the Noles had a tough loss Saturday, we're still supporting them (in a big way, as you can see).

on his left hip

spear on the helmet

Breakfast Tailgating

FSU hosts Boston College today at noon, so we'll be out tailgating early this morning! Here's what's on the menu:

Bagels, cream cheese, coffee,
Bagel sandwiches, fruit salad, mimosas
Muffins

Ina's Bloody Marys

Ingredients
3 large stalks celery from the heart, including leaves, plus extra for serving
36 ounces tomato juice (recommended: Sacramento)
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon grated yellow onion
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
12 dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco), or to taste
1 1/2 cups vodka

Directions
Cut the celery in large dice, including the leaves, and puree in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until finely minced. In a large pitcher, combine the rest of the ingredients except the vodka. With the food processor running, pour 1/4 of the tomato juice mixture into the food processor through the feed tube. Then pour the contents of the food processor into the pitcher with the remaining tomato juice mixture. Add the vodka and chill. Serve in tall glasses over ice with a stick of celery.

Makes 6 drinks.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 ¼ cup milk

¾ cup chocolate chips

Directions

In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, egg and milk until smooth. I find a whisk works best.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt and baking powder) and mix well.

Dump dry ingredients into wet mixture and blend just until moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into muffin tins lined with muffin paper cups. Bake at 350 about 15 minutes, until top springs back when touched.

Makes 18-24 muffins.

Kitchen, Cupcakes and More

Some updates on this week's projects. First, in the kitchen, I picked up the replacement chandelier and installed it! And it looks great!! I'll return the bent one this morning.

Ta-da!

Tuesday I blogged about my plans to participate in the Paint It Purple blog party. I'm really excited that Jenn, Britain and Peyton will join the fun. Jenn, as usual, had brilliant ideas! We are going to bake on Thursday, decorate the cupcakes Friday (maybe with the help of the Alpha Chi collegians at FSU) and then deliver the cupcakes to Refuge House, our local DV shelter/agency so the staff and residents can enjoy them! Look for our blog posts on Saturday, October 2nd!

In other news, I've had a semi-famous week. Tuesday I was featured on the AXO Florida State alumnae and collegians blog - see the post here: http://axofloridastate.blogspot.com/2010/09/amy-zoldak-zeta-upsilon-alumna-honorary.html. Wednesday, our plumbers posted a link to my blog post about their last visit on their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/McNeillPlumbing?v=wall Makes me wonder what might happen today.... hmmm. :)

FSU-BYU Game Recap

 I am an FSU football season-ticket holder, and since I missed the Samford game, Saturday's game against the BYU Cougars was my first of the year. It was a beautiful day in Tallahassee, sunny and warm, and I thought the humidity had moderated a bit (it was 55% at noon before we left for the game). I headed down to tailgate with some friends and still the day was quite pleasant. It was in the shade and there was a nice breeze. Even walking over the stadium the weather seemed reasonable.

Not so much inside the Doak... I roasted! But it was worth it, as the Seminoles came back from their loss at Oklahoma and showed some real spirit on the field. The final score was 34-10. I was especially impressed with #23, tailback Chris Thompson, who had 123 yards rushing and a touchdown. Running back #33 Ty Jones looked good too, and quarterback Christian Ponder, while still a little hesitant on the field, certainly got the job done. It was nice to see back up quarterback E.J. Manuel come in to play the final series too.

Chris Thompson

Ty Jones

E.J. Manuel

Love this photo because you can see the sun shining down on me.

BYU fans. At first it seemed like only men had come to Tallahassee, but it turned out the women and kids were out of the sun - I went into the concourse and saw lots of them. I talked to several of the BYU fans; they were all really nice.

Next home game is Saturday the 25th. Kickoff at 3:30pm. 

Perspectives on Literacy

Perspectives is a local radio show on our Tallahassee NPR station (WFSU-FM) that airs each Thursday from 11am til noon. Imagine my surprise when I got into the car last week and heard people I knew chatting away about reading on the radio. 

Last Thursday's episode focused on Literacy and featured 3 Florida Center for Reading Research faculty members (two of whom are active in the Learning Disabilities Center, the projects I work on) and a reading coach who works in the local schools. And thanks to the power of the internet, you can listen to the whole program here!

My Favorite Moment of Recruitment

I put the song at the top so you can listen to get in the mood for the story. (no need to watch the video itself.)

As many of you know, I volunteer locally with my sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. Our alumnae chapter provides all kinds of assistance during Recruitment, and it's my job to keep all the alums organized and in the right places to help with behind-the-scenes details. We're amazingly fortunate to have many sisters who are generous with their time and talents!

In case you're not familiar, sorority Recruitment at FSU is a big production. There are 4 rounds of parties, that start Monday and run until Saturday. The early rounds run two days each so that the potential new members (called PNMs) have the opportunity to go to as many houses as possible before narrowing down their choices later in the week.

On Monday and Tuesday, each sorority hosts 20 parties. This year, 1341 young women attended them. It's a bit overwhelming! There are plenty of high points during the week - talking to sisters who've meet young women they really like; hearing sisters sing favorite songs; and of course, the ceremony on the final day, which is called Preference Party. This year, though, there was a moment of such spontaneous joy and fun that it immediately became my favorite of this year.

The chapter plays happy dance music as their guests come into the house, and as they exit each party. Friday at the end of the last party of third round, they played Jay Sean's Down (see video) and after the last PNM left, a dance party broke out in the foyer of the house. It was awesome!

It was great to witness how much fun they have together and how much they truly enjoy being together - true signs of a strong sisterhood.