Contemporary Piece

On Thursday in my floral design class, we talked about funeral arrangements and vase arrangements again. It was fun to use some exotic flowers this time!

We were allowed to pick between Bird of Paradise or Dendrobium Orchids. I was totally in love with these orchids so I chose them!

We got a very fancy vase to use this time, too! This arragement has orchids, curly willow, bird of paradise stems, and a leaf I cannot remember the name of. :\

As you can see - very contemporary! I wanted to leave the leaves solid, but we were required to alter them. Haha the two options we had were slitting them down the midrib or fold them into themselves. I had chosen the later, but during transport (in the rain and wind) the leaves ripped and I had to alter them to the slit style. I thought this was fun!!


PS I am going to take a better picture soon! The wire was cut off in this photo and the contents from under Shannon's bed are showing! :p But my battery died!

::EDIT::
New picture!

Corsages and Boutineeres

This week in my floral design class, we made corsages and boutineeres! We also talked about wearing flowers in the lecture. It was VERY interesting... maybe because a certain "cousin" of mine is getting married in July!!! Even though I wont be making them... I loved learning about it. :)

These pictures are pretty bad for some reason... blurry and the colors are out of focus... but here they are!

We made this first... and the professor did not realize how big the foliage was going to be, so the carnation is a bit tiny. Its hard to see, but there is a small green wire that's supposed to accent it (sort of failed) lol

We also made a corsage in class. This one is actually pinned on the wrong side of the shirt, its supposed to be on the left side... its form is to frame the face. I know the colors are sort of off, again.. limited materials.

What do you think?

GLACURH

Something that I may have mentioned in this blog, or maybe just in person is the GLACURH conference that I am attending in November. I applied to be part of the ISU delegation and I was accepted! I am PUMPED to go, conferences are a blast. :) This conference, GLACURH, stands for Great Lakes Affiliates of Colleges and Universities Residence Halls. This means students from all around the states of Michigan, Ontairo, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana come together to discuss leadership within the residence halls.

One part of conferences is going to programs. Programs are put on by delegates like me, and we learn from each other. Then there's fun time where we get to know each other (entertainment like a dance, a high ropes course, etc etc). And one of the most exciting parts is the banquet. Last year ISU bid for Large School of the Year and we won. :D

This year we are bidding for Student of the Year and Student Award for Leadership Training (SALT). I worked on the SALT bid with a few other people, and it took up A LOT of my time, let me tell you!

I talk about it a lot, but what does it look like? If you go here, you can see it. I have uploaded it to a free hosting website. Just download it and you'll see 20 pages of goodness! Haha.... I'm just kidding, :-P

It took me about 3 days straight (and I mean straight) to assemble all those pieces and format them. I am crossing my fingers that we come home with another award this year!

Let me know what you think!

Heating Plant!

Haha, Stephanie tagged me in her blog to do this photo-meme and I thought it would be fun to do it! I had to open my first photo folder, upload the 10th photograph and post the story behind it. Here is that photo:


This actually has a pretty funny story! Freshman year of college, Shannon and I lived in Walker Hall - the second oldest residence hall at ISU. (So, rickety and old are the key thoughts there.) Well, one night our heater started making these HORRIBLE noises around 4am.... screetching, squeaking, WAILING.... it was awful. We tried to get help from the RA on duty, but they couldn't do anything for us. So for 4 hours, we sat awake, staring at each other because it was so loud we couldnt sleep.

That morning, we placed a work order and they had to refer it to the Heating Plant. Chris, the mechanic, came to our room at 8am (while we were in our PJs) and did not leave until around 4pm that day. We were in and out of the room for class, etc.... and at one point I left him a note saying "Dear Chris, we <3 you. Thanks for helping us!" on a post-it note on the wall above the heater.

This is what he posted on our door's dry erase board when he left that day! Haha :) He was awesome, he only left for a 20 minute lunch that day! What a guy!!

We ended up with like.... 12 new parts to our heater because he kept finding more problems, which is probably what honestly kept him there so long! But man, what a day.

Oh Walker Hall!!! :)

Homecoming!

Whew! Homecoming at ISU was last week - October 19-25th... what an exhausting week!

Back in the fall of 2008, I was asked to serve on the Student Subcommittee for Homecoming. I didn't really know what I was actually signed up to do. When I got to my first meeting, I realized that I am one of 10 voices of the students that is directly linked to the Steering Committee of Homecoming! How exciting!

Even though sometimes these meetings can be annoying during a busy time, I am lucky to be serving on it. I started planning this year's Homecoming last November - where we picked the theme "Rock the Red!"

Beyond serving on the Student Subcommittee for Homecoming, I was also asked to be a judge for Homecoming Court, since I served on it last year. That was REALLY an honor for me! Along with two other people, we interviewed 22 hopefuls for court over three days. I spent about 13 hours in that room, asking the same 7 questions. Haha, it was exhausting, but I would definitely do it again. The worst part was wait! I was emailed the results and the winners and had to wait 5 days before I could talk about it!!!

ARH does a lot with Homecoming as well. This year's executive board voted to partake in all of the activities that were going on. Talk about a BUSY week!

Monday
Monday serves as the kick of Homecoming. This wasn't an "event" that ARH signed up to participate in, but many of us wanted to go and see who court would end up being.

Me with Ryan, a good friend, on Monday's Kick Off. He later won King at the end of the week. :)

Tuesday
Tuesday was the "Redbird Rumble" Team Competition. Last year on court I had to demonstrate the games, but this year ARH made a team! It was seriously a blast! There was a tug of war, a 3 legged race, and a fruit pass.

The ARH team and West Campus team sitting together in the bleachers during the competitions!

Shannon and Nicole tied together for the 3-legged race

The ARH team laying along the Redbird head on the field! What a great pic :)

Wednesday
On Wednesday, there was a carnival that any registered student organization could participate in. ARH had a table, brought bag sets, and enjoyed the carnival atmosphere created in the Student center.

The ARH table at the carnival, near the bungee run. It's hard to tell, but we had lights on our table to attract attention!! :)

A shot of the carnival in our student center - there was food, music, tables, henna, air brush, pictures... and much more! ALL FREE!

For some reason, we decided to wrap Jake in lights and call him the "Human Torch" since our logo is a torch. He was a great sport - but we really need to stop torturing him with our "brilliant ideas"

Thursday
On Thursday, somehow, ARH hosted a Rockband Tournament in the Residence Halls. We actually did not create this idea or want to do it, but AMY cant say no when people ask for help. So I offered to help, and the other organization bailed out at the last minute. We pulled it off, but there was MUCH learned that night.

A quick pic of some people playing in the Southside area!

Friday
Friday is full of traditional events: Tip Off, Torchlight Parade, Hoopfest, Pep Rally, Bonfire, and a Live Band.

Most of the ARH group getting ready for the Torchlight Parade. It's a great tradition here at ISU!

Shannon and I posing with Reggie. He is so awesome! This picture made it on the website, too ;-)

The group at Hoopfest, enjoying some good opening basketball season action!

Saturday
Saturday is our Homecoming Parade and football game!

The group stepping off at the parade with our banner! You can tell how cold it was that morning! :-P

Shannon and Robert painted our faces before the football game, and Shannon did GREAT with the Redbirds! Many of us wanted one. :)

During the entire week, I kept praying that it would be over.... there was a LOT of planning, organizing, and running around that we all did that week. But the second that Shannon and I woke up from our 12 hours of sleep on Sunday, I realized this was my last undergrad homecoming. I am a little sad about it now. :( It has been a great 3 years associated with ARH in Homecoming, and this year was absolutely the best! :)

Ikebana

The latest creation from my floral design class. Japanese influenced, but definitely not followed through on the flower selections; we had to use what she could order. I think it's a fun piece!

Latest Arrangment

I definitely came home from class a little cranky on Thursday. I have class from 6-9pm and then a meeting from 9-11pm. My class ran basically the whole time - and what did I have to show for it? A FAKE FLOWER ARRANGMENT.

It has taken me a day or two to really appreciate it.... but I finally have, as it has been hanging on my door. :) This is a hanging arrangment, in the back I made a hook/loop for a door. Everything is fake in this arrangment and I did make it wind resistant just incase my mom would want to hang it at home!

The bow needs oodles of help, but that seems to be the case every time ;-)

Next week we are getting to do a very expensive Ikebana piece - which is primarily Asian influenced. There are typically very few flowers or foliage, but it creates quite the impact. I'm excited to see how that one turns out!!!