Again I
started a post (on August 26) and didn’t finish it until a couple weeks later
(today)…so bad…anyways, on Tuesday, August 5th - Aaron, Zach, and I
arrived at the airport shortly before 8:30am, and Vaughn, Caleb, Josh, and Nick
were already there, and waiting near the gate. It was the first time seeing all
of them after being gone for the summer, and I was so excited, not only did I
know that we would have a great time in Fort Lauderdale with them, I missed all
of them immensely. Zach had never flown before, so needless to say his nerves
were extremely heightened and a couple of the guys were teasing him when we got
on the plane about it crashing. Lucky for him the flight was pretty calm (we even
told him how lucky he was). Then, the
one time he decided to get up and go to the washroom, there was a bit of
turbulence. He came back to his seat pretty rattled, it was quite funny. We
arrived in Fort Lauderdale just before lunch, and had a couple of the Psi
Chapter guys pick us up and take us to the hotel.
Sunday morning we were on the way back to Kentucky!
The
next 5 days were full of many good times and great laughs. We all made some new
friends, and had a great time getting to know one another better. While the
guys attended meetings through-out the day, I hung out with some of the girls,
and made sure to get my workout in each day.
Thursday
afternoon was a beach day. Doug and Jen brought the whole family down to visit
us that day. I took little Caiden (almost 2) out into the water and he was
loving it. On the Friday, meetings were done around lunch time, and we all met
and walked down the beach to a nearby park where Mike B. was preparing a Cajun
Boil for all of us. I have never been to a Cajun Boil before, but the food was
fantastic!! Definitely will have to have it again. It was so nice to have
everyone together that day, enjoying the company, sunshine, and playing some
football.
All day
Zach had kept telling me that I was going to win, and I had to keep telling him
to stop talking about it. I knew a few of the other girls running, and well, I
hate to say it, they are a lot younger than me. And, I think prettier, but that’s
my opinion. I know it isn’t a beauty pageant by any means, and I thought I had
a pretty good chance of winning, but wasn’t walking into banquet that night
thinking that I’d hear my name be called. As we sat eating dinner, which I
barely could eat, it hit me that if my name was called I would have to walk to
the front of the room in front of 140+ people. A lot of you know that I am not
the one who likes to have the attention placed on me. Well, when my name was
called I just sat there. I didn’t know what to do. Aaron nudged me and I stood
up, gave him a hug, and eventually made my way up to the front of the room.
Everyone was standing, clapping, staring at me, and I just didn’t know what to
think. Some of the guys were giving me high fives and fist bumps, pats on the
shoulder, saying congratulations…and then I was at the front. Allison (last year’s
winner) gave me a big hug and handed me flowers, and then it was photo time.
The rest of the awards were handed out, and Aaron won Most Outstanding Chapter
Ombudsman. He definitely deserved to win that! The amount of time and effort
that he puts into the Fraternity is unbelievable. It’s his passion, and in the
last few years has grown to be one of mine too. I have said this before, they
are my big American family, and I wouldn’t give anything to change that. These
last 3.5 years have been pretty fantastic. I love knowing that I can go to any
of them at any time, and they will always have my back, just like they will
have each other’s back.
Sunday morning we were on the way back to Kentucky!
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