SALT Bid Saga Continues

Ok, so in this entry, I had updated everyone on the SALT bid, what it is, and how we won it for the region.

We have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting....

Wait.

We? No, it's been ME who has been waiting anxiously for an email. Let me start again.

I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting.... for an email to say our bid is eligible for National recognition. Reminder: I submitted this sucker the Monday after Thanksgiving! The wait has been incredibly awful. I kept reviewing things to make sure I had included all the appropriate aspects, and then second guessing myself.... I just wanted to get past this first step! And it seemed to be taking the National Board of Director forever to decide :(

I can honestly say I have been checking my school email about.... 48 times a day. Everytime I had an email, I would load it, then normally be really sad when it was junk. But today, TODAY was different. I got an email from the Conference Resource Consultant today. It read the following:

"Good evening, I am writing to officially inform you that your bid for
this year's Student Award for Leadership Training
has fulfilled the requirements as
noted in the national policy book.
Thus, your bid will now be considered for the national award."

Oh HECK YES! I got the email squealed, and did a dance. FINALLY! It's good to know we actually got to this stage. *big sigh of relief* A friend told me today, "Now, you just have to sit and wait, no more worrying." HA.

Ok, he's right, there's no reason to worry, it's totally out of my hands now. Not like it wasn't before, but now that we are actually able to be considered, it's such a relief. However, I am on this streak of SALT all day, all night, and that has got to stop.

They announce the winner on the 20th. My friend also told me, there are no finalists, just the winner. So, somehow, I need to get to January 20th (a random Wednesday) to see if we won! I am not even sure how I feel about our chances, the bids aren't posted anywhere! Basically - I need to just STOP thinking about it!

But I wanted to share the good news. We're in. Now - we wait. The longest wait ever.

V-A Christmas

Or is it A-V Christmas? Which comes first? It doesn't really matter because it's ALWAYS been awesome!

Each year since... forever, my family and the As get together for a Christmas celebration. I believe we have not always served pasta, but that has been the case for the past 10 years or so. :) Sure, we've filtered in various boyfriends throughout this couple decade tradition.... but the important parts have remained the same - family. :-)

We are holding our annual traditional dinner, gift exchange, and good times on Sunday, and I am just so excited! This year will be different as Erin will not be joining us (as she is still serving in Morocco) and the only boyfriend attending is actually a fiance now! (My dad made the rule a few years ago that boys are only allowed to come if they are going to end up marrying into the family!) At least Adam has that official invitation now!

Trip down memory lane preparing for this year's tradition:

V-A Christmas 2007
Myself and Doug watching Aunt Kathy open a gift she was not expecting!

Erin and nonimportant boy watching Aunt Kathy realizing that the gift is cute snowman bowls! She loves snowmen!

Stephanie received holiday flip flop ornaments from us!

First thing about this picture: The caption was 'Adam H' on my computer because I wasnt sure he was going to stick around and just incase I needed to remember his name. Second: Adam and nonimportant boy both got puzzle boxes from us and they raced to see who would open them first. Adam won. He's a keeper!

V-A Christmas 2008
Adam and Stephanie as we arrive at their house for Christmas! This year will mark Adam's 3rd V-A gathering! Do we need to add H in the name now?

Stephanie, Doug, and I orchestrated a video for Erin from VBS while she was in Morocco. We surprised her with the finished product and she couldn't help but cry at how much the kids missed her! My mom, Erin, Aunt Kathy, and Stephanie enjoying the video.

Erin brought home a knife for Doug, and we all joked around all night, "Doug, put the knife DOWN!" I think Adam got one, too!

Adam and Uncle Ed enjoying pictures and memories we were scrolling through on their huge TV!

This is a selfish picture, but I just love it! Erin, me, and Stephanie for our celebration in 2008. We will definitely miss Erin for this year's dinner, but she'll get to see as much of it as my, Stephanie, and Doug's cameras capture!

I wish I had more pictures electronically to share from past years, but they are sitting next to me as hard copies right now! I dont have a printer near me, or I would certainly scan them in and embarass Stephanie and Erin! Though I'm sure there's a few good ones of our moms, too! ;-) I am looking forward to creating more memories and enjoying another V-A Christmas with the best used-to-be-neighbors-ever on Sunday. Stay tuned for pictures of that!

Christmas in Room 215

Ever since freshman year, I have brought a plethora of Christmas decorations back to school with me after Thanksgiving break. It's sad/sick that I end up bringing 2 whole boxes of JUST decorations, but I absolutely love having such a jolly room. :)

Somehow Shannon has put up with the loads of lights, junk, and three Christmas trees - for the past 4 years! This year was no different, and I spent about 3 hours putting it all up the Sunday after Thanksgiving. (And a few hours that week refining it all.) We only have 1 week of classes and 1 week of finals between Thanksgiving and Winter Break... but I still do it anyway. :) Hey, even though it's finals, it's time to enjoy the season!

Regardless, I stretch the rules juuuust a bit during this time of year. :-P Don't worry, all of the decorations were taken down and returned to Schaumburg when we traveled back from finals. It's back to plain, boring room 215. Here are some pictures of what we had hanging up:

Starting on the back of the door, we hung up the swag I made in class!

Above Shannon's bed, I put our 3rd (mini!) tree and some random other things

This is the shelf above Shannon's bed: A dumb garland, random snowmen, a duck, and a creepy necklace!

Space between our desks: stockings, stuff animals, more lights, and a brick reindeer

Two Santas representing my heritage on the DVD player: the one on the right is Czech and the one on the left is Italian. :)

On top of my printer: our 2nd Christmas tree, with LED lights! ;-)

On the shelves above my bed: a jolly pig, random figurines, and snowy trees

Our 3ft Christmas tree on a table! Right in the middle of the room. :) I have the best roommate ever to let me do this!!!!

Myself and Shannon posing in front of our tree. We always take a "family" picture in front of the tree.. and this will be our last :(

As I'm sure you can tell, none of this is actually of real quality. :-P It's actually all stuff my mom threw into the garbage at one point, and I took them back out! After she saw these pictures, she couldnt believe the junk I salvaged! But even the rejected stuff makes Christmas jolly for Shannon and me during the stressful time of finals! Even the ugly ornaments, atrocious garland, and broken figurines make us smile!

Some of the things I did not take pictures of: we have 2 strands of lights going around our room all year long - needless to say they are on 24/7 during this season, 2 strands of icicle lights hanging from our celing light, a rope light around our TV stand, a long garland strung from Shannon's bed to mine, a yule log DVD that plays all day on our TV, and a star above our door.

Most of what I mentioned in the above paragraph is not allowed in the residence halls! :\ Needless to say I didnt take pictures of them, but I did take a nice long video of them. It's on facebook if you're interested, it's a little too long to put on here! Dont worry, it is all taken down, and was only up for a short time. Even if we got into trouble for it, we thought it was worth the Christmas-y feeling we had for these two weeks! :) We're seniors in the res halls, for goodness sakes!

Soon I'll post pictures up of my house in Schaumburg to show you just how crazy I REALLY am! I brought most of this home to decorate ;-)

I hope your home is jolly and cozy this season, too! No matter how classy your decorations may be! :)

Final Arrangement!

My floral design professor keeps us working until the last class. On our last meeting, we had a 25 point quiz on making a bow. Eeesh, bows are NOT my forte. But I managed to earn all 25 points :)

That wasn't the end of the class... we got to make a holiday arrangment. In this case, it was a swag.

Ok, before I go on, do you know what a swag is? I talked to cousinErin, Shannon and other friends about it, and all of them were like, "What the heck is a swag?" I am including a link to the definition in addition to my picture. I did NOT make a ghetto form of walk in my floral design class.

Ok! Back to the story. :) We were given a variety of evergreen foliage and were taught how to make a simple swag. I loved it! They are pretty easy to make, but the tough part is finding the size greenary you want to use. I was given some pine which, if you didn't know, basically oozes the entire time you use it. Pine sap is sort of gross and is really hard to get off our hands. By the time I was done, both my hands were nice and black. It also made it hard to work with the pine cones!

Regardless, I really like it... and it makes our room smell very holiday :D Hopefully I can find a place to hang it when I get home for break! Stephanie, do you have a place you'd like to hang it?

Here we go! This is hanging on the back of our room door. I took everything off the door except the small dry erase board that is hanging behind it... so you can sort of see random colors thru the swag! My apologies!

So how do you like that bow? I may or may not have made it. :-P Anyway, this is my last floral design arrangment. I am sad that it is over! I'm going to try to keep practicing skills when I can (and when I can afford various flowers!) Hopefully I'll get to attend a floral conference in March! (Nerd)

I give thanks...

First of all I would like to say that Erin taught me how to post things in the future... and I am just so pumped. Apologies for the posts that have been coming up on the same day!

But anywho, I wanted to post about Thanksgiving. This year the family was healthy enough to travel, so we went to Cleveland, Ohio to see my mom's parents. (I know right, so tropical!) I had friends going to Florida, California... but I had no problem traveling to Ohio to see my grandparents. It had been more than a year for me!

We left Tuesday morning of break and were on the road around 7am. (Not too bad, but dont forget my dad had said "6:30am" the night before.) Anyway, we got on the road, and I promptly fell asleep after a few texts to friends who had class still. :-P I woke up somewhere around the end of Indiana and dozed on and off in Ohio. I had no idea where we were until I started seeing landmarks that were familiar... At this point we had been in the car straight for 7 hours - and my dad did not stop for lunch.

Did not stop for LUNCH?

Cardinal rule: not feeding Amy results in bad news bears.

We pulled into my grandparent's driveway and I was as cranky as can be. Dad claims no one answered him when he asked about stopping - although I know he probably never asked. ;-) We settled into the house and I quickly downed 1/4 of the banana bread my mom baked for my grandparents. Haha hey, I had to do something or heads were going to roll!

Anyway, the trip was fantastic. My grandmother is a FABULOUS cook, and my grandpa had fun catching up with my dad and us kids. Doug and I took a lot of time to relax and decompress before finals started, it was really nice. We played our traditional game of Shanghii - and Doug won!!!! (This normally never happens.) I think we ruined Grandma's winning streak.

I was itchy to be active, however. So I hounded and begged for information about the arboretum and greenhouse they have in their area. Cant keep me away from the plants - even in November! I think everyone felt bad for me, so my dad came with me to the arboretum on Wednesday. Here a few fun pictures:

Dad and I walked around the Visitor Center and the skies opened up. I stood looking out the window like a sad puppy while we waited for it to clear up. This shot was from the window of the Center

It took Dad and me like 15 minutes to find the path we wanted to take... but we saw this on our way. I realized it was a reflecting pool, and I got excited. :)

I have no interest in conifers, so I took dad on a traditional woodlands path. This was sort of dumb because all the trees were bare... but along the path, we saw this little guy. All bright green and with leaves! We both stopped and admired its burst of color.

Dad was joking around about visiting Blueberry Pond (he loves blueberries). We luckily were able to pass it on our walk. It was breathtaking on the gloomy day to see the burning bush with a little yellow and some evergreen. We enjoyed that peaceful moment. :)

At the end of the trip - the sun came out and we read about redwood forests. I wanted to compare my height to this 200 year old tree. :) Too bad I didnt notice the bird poop until after we left :-P

I loved going out hiking with Dad, it was fun to hang out with him, doing something I really love - being outside with trees! We went back to the Center to return our umbrellas and he bought me a hat. I love that hat and every time I wear it, I think about our afternoon together. (Especially when we got lost on the way home hehe)

On Thursday, Thanksgiving!, my mom and grandpa went with me to a greenhouse!!! What a treat! It was completely free and beautiful. I was excited to go some place with Grandpa... and my mom knows my nutty passion for plants. They had themed rooms, so here a few pictures of the time there:

There was a whole room dedicated to orhcids!! Mom and I foudn these spider-y ones very interesting!

The next room is usually something else, but starting on Thanksgiving they transform it into a Pointsettia room! It was breathtaking to see so many beautiful flowers.

Another room was all cacti! I was so enthralled in all the different kinds all at once. Nice and tropical for a really cool day!

My grandpa recalled that there was a small garden outside. I ran ahead (like a kid in a candy store) and discovered a Sensory Garden for the blind and a cute pathway. I found an American Beech and took a picture for my dad. My plan is to get this tree in our yard by the time I move out ;-)

Thanksgiving dinner was AMAZINGLY delicious as always when Grandma cooks. I absolutely ate too much. I think I had enough saurkraut to last me until next year! We enjoyed some stories and laughter before wrapping up the night with some pie and icecream. We hit the road on Friday morning around 9am. I was really choked up with emotion... I certainly do not want to wait another year to see them again. It made me so happy when Grandpa hugged me - he said, "Come back in summer and we'll bring you back to Holden's [arboretum] and Rockefeller's [greenhouse]. You'll love it summer."

I think that means he'll join me :) And that makes me so excited!!!!

GLACURH Pt. 2

I eluded to something in my previous GLACURH related entry... that we were required to give a presentation about something at the conference. (In front of what seemed like hundreds of people, but really... it wasn't.)

ISU had decided to "bid" for the Student Award for Leadership Training (SALT). This included a 20 page bid, or paper with pictures and stuff. We submitted that to the Regional Board of Directors and waited to hear if we made the finals. We did! That was SO exciting!!! We were up against 2 other schools for the award.

What was next for us was a 10 minute presentation and a 5 minute Q & A session. The 10 minute presentation was required for us to showcase our retreat and bid.... and was completely open-ended. That really worried me... an open-ended presentation was giving us a TON of right to be creative - and let's just say that I was NOT feeling creative during the 2 weeks beforehand!

Our delegtion had come up with the idea to do a movie. Well, that proved almost impossible because we had decided that 5 days before the conference... and there was NO way that me, with my meger editing skills, would be able to throw something respectable together. Shannon and I brainstormed the idea that we should take video clips and put them in a powerpoint, to make it interactive.

So in 2 days I gathered 12 testimonials from members of ARH and started to assemble the presentation. I think I spent over 36 hours straight on that powerpoint!!! It was a little tiring, but after a lot of testing, practicing, and reading Microsoft tutorials online, I got the videos to work on any computer I wanted! :)

Shannon, a delegation member, Robert, and I went to present the powerpoint. We practiced for over 2 hours.... as our presentation time kept getting pushed back. We went in there - and I'd like to say... we rocked it. :)

The three of us before our presentation!

Did we win? Well, we had to wait ALL day to find out! We went to the last 2 programming sessions, and then back to the hotel to relax and prepare for dinner and the banquet. Let's just say, that was the longest wait ever! Once we got to the banquet, we took a ton of pictures and I was basically nervous the entire time!

Our delegation, all matching in green, before dinner!

I had a delcious pasta meal, and texted my heart out to one of my friends across the room from UIC. He used to be on the Regional Board of Directors, so he was pretty comforting as I was having an corinary about whether or not we won. Of course the SALT bid announcment was in the middle of the ceremony... I cant even really tell you who else won the other awards, my heart was beating too loud.

Well the moment came! The SALT award announcement....

Do you think we won? Either that's me sneezing while Shannon is taking a picture or, I'm getting ready to stand up and accept the award. :)

Oh I'm sure you guessed it! We won the award!!! Here it is! It is in our office, waiting to be hung proudly after break. :)

It was a very emotional weekend.... very tiring, away from school, anxious from the presentation, a presentation delegate change at the last minute.... but it was all worth it. I was able to work with people who I know very well and care about very much, as well as get to work with brand new conference go-ers. It was a great weekend!!! :)

Now, an exciting thing - we decided to bid nationally! Now, when we bid for Large School of the Year, for some reason I was like 10432% more confident about winning. I spruced up our bid and submitted it last Monday along with a million pieces of paperwork. After I sent it in, I stared at my email for about 1 hour waiting for a confirmation. The hour turned into 2, as I fell asleep next to my computer. It turns out that my wait was completely unwarranted... the email came 4 days later saying the application and paperwork was received. Now we just wait to hear if our bid is eligible or not. The suspense!

Once I find out, I'll keep you posted! If we are, then we move into the stage where they narrow down to the finalists! *Crosses fingers*

Now THIS wait is the worst!

Finals? What Finals?

Next week marks the beginning of finals, and I really have no desire to start studying! As you probably have noticed, I have done a fantastically horrible job updating this. :( I'm hoping to use this as a good break between studying during the next few days.

I am currently sitting in my room listening to Christmas music, enjoying our 3 ft Christmas tree, and listening to our yule log DVD crackle. But before I get into all of that, below is my floral design final. We were told that we would be tested on 1 of 5 different floral arrangement designs: Symmetrical, Asymetrical, Centerpiece, Contemporary, and Round. I spent a week studying the rules and intracacies of each. I was able to draw out the different planes and discuss placement on all of them... except the contemporary design. For some reason I was just not grasping it. Part of the problem may have come in when the contemporary design we did in class was in a vase, and our final was in a bowl!

I know right? Complain, complain. I understand that was the point of the final - to challenge us and to encourage us to use what we've learned in the final. Either way, the arrangements were split among the class. Our professor had put the designs in a hat and we had to choose our fate, if you will.

When my professor got to me, I was closing my eyes, crossing my fingers, and chanting "not contemporary, not contemporary...." as I reached my hand into the hat. Guess what I picked?

A centerpiece!!!

Haha yeah right. What would be the point of all that set up if I picked something I could actually make?! Of course I picked contemporary out of the hat. As I read the word, my heart sank! My professor leaned over to me and said, "good luck!" Oh comforting!

Well, here it is. Sort of... I transported it home for break and the Oasis foam split. I ended up having to completely reconstruct it. But this is what I was graded on:

So I was given the 5 Birds of Paradise, the 2 Ti leaves, and the 3 Curly Willows... the rest was up to us to figure out. This was especially hard for me because I used Orchids for the in-class contemporary unit. (Here) There were 4 of us who were "lucky" enough to have selected this style. The 2 boys in our group just shoved flowers and leaves in all willy-nilly and were done in like 5 minutes. The girl next to me would not stop talking to me about random fun facts about her life. Meanwhile, I'm like SWEATING and freaking out about how I'm going to do this.

I probably took the whole time to do this piece, then I had to wait for the professor to come over and grade. It was sort of funny, I couldn't stop fidgeting with it. When she finally came over, I got a few compliments like, "You have a very relaxed eye. I have not seen Birds of Paradise used this tall successfully before." and "I enjoy the color you chose for your focal point, its a great compliment." However, I did receive the comment, "You arrangment is not incredibly sturdy." Hmm what to know why? I couldn't stop fidgeting!!! Dangit!

While I was bummed about that, I received an 87%. Ok, that bummed me out, too. My professor could tell, though. She whispered to me, "You got the highest grade out of the group - be proud of that."

I am! At least I know that I need to study this style a lot more before attempting to do something like it again!