The Happiest Place on Earth

Walt Disney really set the bar high with that statement. However, even through the exhaustion, it is totally true in the end. 

I spent the last week of May in Orlando with my dad, stepmom and siblings. I'd be lying if I said tackling Disney World's 4 theme parks as a family of 6 was easy. It wasn't. At all. My dad and stepmom put in so much effort, time and patience into perfectly planning our 5 days in the parks. We had designated FastPass rides, amazing lunch reservations and Disney's Memory Maker (which I highly recommend to everyone. You get unlimited usage of all the photos the parks' photographers take of your family!) Keeping 3 kids content through 5 days of nonstop activity seriously tested my patience. We survived and conquered, of course, and made some unforgettable memories as we do every summer.

One vacation down, one to go!

Stay tuned,
Lex

Update

Hello, friends!

I know it's been awhile and I didn't exactly follow all my New Year's resolutions, but I improved with some and that's what matters. 

My sophomore year of college has officially come to a close. By the grace of God I made it out alive and with 3.8 GPA, which I was not expecting at all. This semester was a whirlwind of upper level classes and social activities that constantly steered me away from my academic duties. However, I proved to myself that you can work and play in college and do just fine. It was, by far, the craziest and most rewarding semester yet.

So what am I up to now?

For starters, I'm 5 days into recovering from my wisdom teeth removal surgery. This has given some much needed relaxation and time to catch up on the dozens hundreds of hours of sleep I lost at school. OK, maybe it wasn't hundreds of hours... actually it probably was. On Saturday I'm headed to Orlando with my dad, stepmom and siblings to spend the week at the happiest place on Earth. Ah yes, Disney World. It makes me feel old knowing that the last time I went was a decade ago. I feel just as excited as I was when I was 9 to buy some Mickey ears and run around the park with my brothers and sister. 

After my week of fun I'm headed back to Stillwater for my internship and part-time job. Yes, this girl is employed with not one, but TWO jobs. I'm in love with the idea of being busy this summer and bringing in some money of my own. Stilly couldn't keep me away for long. Could it be that Oklahoma is starting to grow on me? 

At the end of June I'm going on my first cruise. There's 18 of us going together and I'll be accompanied by my OG roomie, Courtney. We went on vacation to California together the summer before freshman year and I'm excited to add more places to our list of roommate adventures. I'm praying I handle being on a boat well since I'm looking into Semester at Sea for the fall semester of my senior year. We'll see how it goes.

Court and I in Cali the summer before our freshman year at OSU

Sorry for so much information. I obviously didn't accomplish my goal of blogging once a month during the semester so there's a lot I had to say. I'll keep the updates coming and can't wait to share my summer with ya'll!

Stay classy, 

Lex

10 Reasons Why Living In A Sorority House Is Actually Amazing

When I told my mom I wanted to join a sorority she thought I was crazy.
She thought I was even crazier when I, someone who grew up as an only child, told her I wanted to move into my chapter's house in the middle of my freshman year and share a room with three other girls.
However, tomorrow I will move into the Gamma Phi Beta house for my third time, and I couldn't be more excited.
Living with 60 girls hasn't always been easy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I've created genuine friendships with girls who were once just acquaintances and have had more fun this past year than I've ever thought possible. I don't think I'll ever enjoy eating chicken 12 times a week, seeing other girls' hair clogged in the shower drains, or hearing Harry Potter movies blaring from the TV lounge 24/7, but there are many things I will miss. Living in Gamma Phi has been an incredible experience filled with memories I will cherish for the rest of my life, so here are 10 reasons why I've loved it so much.

1. I am constantly surrounded by women who hold me accountable... but also convince me to go out and live a little when I let my stressful days get the best of me.

2. If I can survive living with over 60 girls, there's no reason I won't be able to share space with a husband and children someday.

3. There's always someone who will be me workout buddy on the good days and my "lets order a pizza at 2 a.m." buddy on the bad ones.

4. Why set an alarm clock when my roommates know my schedule better than I do?

5. When one of my roommates receives a care package, I receive a care package.

6. Watching chick flicks until 4 a.m. on a school night just wouldn't be the same by myself.

7. I save money on gas because I don't have to drive to my friends' houses.

8. There's no need to spend money on clothes when I have dozens of closets to borrow from.

9. It would be ridiculous to sleep in a bunk bed at this age otherwise.

10. Whether I want the advice or not, there's always someone to tell me what I need to hear.

With 60 girls comes a lot of drama, but living with these young women has been much more than that. My life has been filled with so much fun, laughter, and support thanks to these sisters of mine. Here's to another semester of late nights, fast food, life talks and a lot of sass.

PC 13, it's our last semester in house, lets make it count!

See ya'll soon, 

Lex

New Year's Resolutions

I feel like there's a love/hate relationship with making goals for the new year. 

They're all the same. 

They never get accomplished. 

It's just a date and doesn't mean anything. 

I've heard it all. This past year was good to me. I left the country for the first time, visited NYC, became a big to two perfect littles, grew closer with my sorority sisters, made some amazing friends and started to really figure out who I want to be. That's why I took some time to think of resolutions for 2015 that are different and more beneficial than just saying I'm going to lose ten pounds (although I wouldn't mind if that happened, too). 

So here they are, my New Year's Resolutions for 2015:

1. To Not Pull (as many) All-Nighters

This is my way of working on my procrastination habits. If I don't have a reason to stay up until 4 a.m. I won't. By nixing all-nighters from my agenda I am forced to work on my schoolwork before 10 o'clock at night, which is usually when I would start my assignments last year.

2. Use My Cameras

I have a Canon t3, GoPro, and Polaroid. They all work great, but I always make excuses to not bring them along on my adventures. I'd like to really document 2015. Not just holidays and events, but daily occurrences that make life enjoyable. Who knows, maybe I'll do a 100 Happy Days challenge this year to get more comfortable with photographing.

3. Work on a 5-year Plan That's Centered Solely on my Goals.

I recently found out that my concurrent hours have made my graduation date closer than I thought. Unless I study abroad, I will be graduating after my spring 2016 semester. The idea of not having a "senior year" college experience or graduating with my friends upsets me, but it also means I have no choice but to focus on myself. This year I need to make a plan for the years to come, and figure out how to make it happen. 

4. Post on the Blog At Least Once a Month
Why have a blog if I don't post on it? There was so much I could have written about last semester if I had managed my time better. I love writing and need to make time to enjoy this hobby. Once a month doesn't seem like a lot, but it's better than once every 2-3 months like last semester. I have to start somewhere.

I can't wait to see what this upcoming year has in store for me. What are your goals for 2015?

Happy New Year,
Lex

Christmas Eve & NYC

I've covered a lot of ground these past four days.

On Sunday I left my dad's house in upstate (basically Canada) New York and headed to the Big Apple with my aunt. It was a great way to break up my 11 day trip and an even better change of scenery. Seeing NYC in the winter was completely different than my visit over the summer. The city had me enjoying the cold, woah.

Sunday was a simple day because of the long drive. However, Monday we saw a lot of the city. My aunt and I took my cousins to a circus in Lincoln Center, walked 5th Avenue and saw the famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. 

I couldn't stop thinking of Elf quotes while looking at the tree. 

Aunt Katie and I outside of the Lincoln Center Theater

After seeing the tree we all went to dinner in Chinatown. We ended up meeting up with some of my aunt's friends, Chris and Ginny, at dinner. They were in the city for the weekend and when Ginny left the table Chris told us he was going to propose to her in front of the Rockefeller tree after we were done with our meal. My heart melted. I love when people are in love. 

Tuesday was the best ending to my city trip. My cousin, Emilia, was getting sick so I went off into NYC by myself. If you've ever been with me in a car it doesn't take long to conclude that I'm extremely directionally challenged. I use GPS to go everywhere and can barely get around my own hometown. As Katie was drawing out directions for me I tried to act calm and collected, but the second I left the safety of her apartment I panicked. There I was, headed to explore one of the biggest cities in the world...alone. 

However, thanks to the lovely map she drew me and the "Embark NYC" App, I made it to 34th Street and back to Brooklyn in one piece.

 I got back to my dad's this afternoon so I could spend Christmas Eve with them. We delivered homemade cookies to friends, had a nice dinner and went to a perfect candlelight church service to celebrate our Savior.

I wish I could put into words how great this trip has been. Thankful doesn't even begin to cover it.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays, 

Lex

Catching Up

OK, so this semester was a little more hectic than planned.

I wish I had posted on here more than twice over these past 4 months. However, if you really just love my writing, I was assigned to do a weekly blog post for my electronic communications class. You can view that blog here. We were given three article each week and had to write a short post about one of them, which is why some of the topics are a little out there. 

Fast forward to right here, right now.

I am currently at my dad's house in upstate New York. Yesterday was Karina's 6th birthday, so I flew in to surprise her. She wasn't as amused as I'd hoped she'd be about me spontaneously showing up across the country, but it was great to be able to spend the day with her.

Doesn't she seem thrilled?

On Sunday I'll be headed to NYC with my aunt for a few days, so I'll be sure to post about that. I'm beyond excited to see the city during Christmas time. Maybe I'll watch Elf before I go to really get into the NYC spirit. 

Hooray for the holiday season and being back on the blog!

With love, 

Lex

I'm Finally a Big!

Last night was Gamma Phi's big-little reveal, and it couldn't have been better!

After almost a month of knowing, I can finally say Annie and Courtney are officially mine.

Annie (left) and Courtney (right)

Keeping it a secret that I was getting both of them as my littles was almost impossible.

I kind of blew it in the beginning. Annie saw big-little stuff on my bed one night and I had to stop myself from calling them "little" whenever I saw them. Not to mention I am the WORST liar. So basically the entire ordeal was pretty stressful for me, but it was all worth it in the end! (even the hours I spent slaving over the few crafts I made myself)

Annie was so excited she didn't put on her big-little clothes.

Sadly I can't take credit for all of these.

Big-little has always been something I've looked forward to. When I officially became Mikki and Lauren's little it was like Christmas in October. Welcoming Courtney and Annie into the fam last night was even better. I have been awaiting the day for me to become a big since summer. I started painting canvases and pinning gift ideas for them before I even knew their names, before they were even Gamma Phis. I even wrote a post about it a few months ago, which you can view here.

It was just one year ago that I got my bigs, and now I am one. I am so thankful to have a Gamma Phi Beta family that makes college so indescribably fun. I love ya'll more than you know.

 Welcome to the sassiest and most fun-loving family in the GPhiB, little ones! There isn't anyone who could fit into this dysfunctional fam better than you guys do. Ya'll are the perfect littles for me and I can't wait to create more memories with you two by my side.

To the moon and back,
Lex