Three-Headed Sanna

Yesterday I babysat my cousins, Sam and Camille. Before we went outside and accidentally sat on sprinklers that went off underneath us we did a mini photo shoot. When I showed them the photo below Sam said that we looked like a three-headed Sanna. They are adorable! Later in the day Camille said that I should marry Katy Perry to which Sam responded, "But she is a girl" and I added, "And she is already married."

Thriving

The title of this post is my word for my life in its current state. Every year at Augie is more phenomenal than the last and so far this one is taking the cake. I feel absolutely in my element and that not only am I loving everything that I am doing but everything is making me deliriously happy. This is going to be a monumental year in terms of shaping the person I am destined to become.

Last night I wasn't feeling good but I sat outside my room with a bunch of my 2N girls and chatted for a couple hours. When I finally went to sleep I was feeling better and I think it is because I got to spend time with my girls being their PA and that is what I love more than anything.

I have said since I got this position that I feel as though I was meant to be a PA at Augie. More and more I am thinking that it would be AWESOME to get my masters in Journalism and Student Affairs at SDSU while being a hall director at Augie and then working at Augie for maybe forever. I never wanted to stay in Sioux Falls after college graduation mainly because in high school I was voted second most likely to stay in Sioux Falls forever but screw it... I love Augie!

This morning we had our group bonding for Viking Days at the Ropes Course. Going to the Ropes Course twice in one month was fantastic! I feel like I could dangle 30 feet in the air everyday now! Augie is filled with exceptional people and our Viking Days Committee boasts many of those wonderful people!

I had a coffee date with one of my 1N girls from last year which was sublime. I love that now I get the privilege of being a first-year PA to 61 girls! I also see one of them wherever I go on campus! Side note: Definitely try the Salted Caramel Mocha at Starbucks!

I know that I am blessed to love the life I live but I will always be grateful for the zest for life that I have and hope that I am passing that along to my girls.

Another side note: I went to Menards today and got Maple Nut Candies to think about my grandpa.

Rebel Yell

Fall is here and it hit really 'effing' hard. I absolutely despise wearing jacket, no matter how cute mine may be, until there is snow on the ground. But because I am surrounded by a family of nurses and my mother cares about my general well-being, I very grudgingly wore a jacket (purple with sailor buttons) yesterday. However, I still wore sandals because 1) I have really cute toenail polish and 2) Socks bug me.

That all being said I am glad that my mom shares the same belief that bright colors make everything better. Last Friday (I have been a little busy to blog everyday) she arrived at my dorm in the middle of the day with things to brighten my life. Some moms would show up with chocolate chip cookies or cash but my mom shows up with an orange teapot with vividly colored daisies. Orange has kinda been my color lately and I like pops of it in my outfits and my insanely adorable dorm room.

I am contemplating the idea of writing a book about how to be an awesome PA. One of the chapters will definitely go into detail about the importance of an inviting dorm room and my tricks of the trade on how to have the most adorable dorm room known to man (freshman girl).

Then this week she surprised me with a side table lamp that she had redone for my room. Last year I got a dainty vintage table with a turquoise top and red legs and have needed a lamp for it since. My mom found a base and shade at World Market but then painted them, of course. The base has an owl on it which is very appropriate because when people ask me what I do as a PA I say that I pass along my wisdom to wondering freshmen. My mom painted the base ivy green which looks awesome with the red and turquoise and the shade ties it all in with a flowered black-and-white pattern. The table is now complete with the lamp, stacks of books, a painted straw container, a picture of me and my grandpa when I was a little girl sitting in a wheelbarrow and a book by the author of one of my favorite blogs- http://www.girlsgonechild.net/

I stay up later than I should reading in the light from my new lamp. I am only a slightly obsessive person...

Goodbye Summer!

Summer is just absolutely lovely and on this day, the eve of my fifth semester at Augie I am missing everything that makes summer so wonderful!

An example of my mom testing out the special effects on her camera

We Are A Colorful Bunch

Each year, the freshman dorms create a mural for each hall that stays up for the four years they are at Augie. This is done early in the year and always proves to be an excellent bonding experience. My girls had a phenomenal time with our masterpiece and some great bonding was going on. Many of the girls commented on how they already know that we are going to have a great floor. I wholeheartedly concur.

Our mural consists of a top banner that says, "Voice Yourself: Class of 2015." Below that is a strip of chalkboard paint. We currently have "We Are A Colorful Bunch" written in chalk. This was a quote from one of my girls that seemed very appropriate for Solberg 2N. Each week a room will take a turn putting up a quote of the week. At the end of the year we will decide on our final quote that will be left on the mural. I love that our mural will be interactive throughout the year! Finishing out the mural is a collection of everyone's hand or foot prints depending on each girl and around the prints is each girl's name and a quote they find applicable to this year.

The mural turned out fantastically and we had great participation throughout the night and worked on it until 1:00 in the morning. I have dubbed it the "goosebump wall" because the quotes are all so fantastic and it became the foundation of the family we are forming on Solberg 2N. I am very excited to see what a great year we are going to have!

Born This Way

My third year on the Augie Dance Team has officially begun. Over the weekend we had our first performance at the first Augie football game of the season. I struggled last year trying to figure out if I wanted to do it for a third year. If you haven't noticed, I am a fairly busy person. At basically the very last minute I decided to try out again and I am so glad I did.

I am the girl with all the hair in her face

Me and Emily: one of my lovely Solberg 1N girls from last year 

I have been involved in dance since I was five years old. Our halftime performance this weekend was to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way." I found this very serendipitous because when I was a very little girl I only ever walked on my tip toes and I spent most of my childhood dancing through grocery stores.

An Older, Wiser Me

Summer is officially over. My feathers are out. The Summer of Chickens is behind me. Today was the first day I had a significant amount of down time since I got back to Augie so naturally I started thinking about Spearfish. I even gave the two-finger wave as I drove down 41st Street. It doesn't have the same effect as it does in Spearfish.

Its amazing how quickly life throws us our next adventure and the next phase that will define us. My Solberg staff last year had phenomenal family dynamics. Being the youngest, I was the little sister of the staff and loved it! This year I am one of the returners and thus have a whole lot of wisdom to pass along! My staff this year, Jackie, Brooke, Miranda, Chris, Matt and I and our hall director, Adam, have been doing oodles of bonding and I can tell we are going to have a great year. I also keep adding things to be involved in. Augie Running Club anyone? : )

The Ladies of the Solberg Staff 2011-2012

The Men of the Solberg Staff 2011-2012

I am not sure when I woke up and was a junior in college but I am getting a little antsy for this year to begin and see everything that is going to be thrown my way.