just workin' on my fitness

One of my many Lenten missions this year is to make working out a larger part of my weekly routine. 3 trips to the gym per week is my goal. It doesn't sounds like much, but it is just right for me!

To motivate myself, I have "Gym Time: 1 2 3" written at the top of each week in my planner. Every time I make a trip to the gym I put an X through each number, starting with 3 to make it like a countdown. There is nothing I love more than crossing things out that I have successfully completed in my planner!

My new Nike sneaks that Daddy got me for Christmas give me even more incentive to go to the gym! I love getting to show off these bad boys to all the people working out at McComas.

So far I have been doing great, and feeling great! It's so easy to forget how important it is to stay fit when you are a busy college student. Going to the gym at the end of an action-packed day is a GREAT stress reliever, and I hope I will be able to keep it up...even once Lent and Easter are over.

rain is a good thing

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

-Gilbert K. Chesterton

RING-a-ling-a-ling

Well now that I have written a BORING leadership blog post about Ring Weekend, I figure it is only fair to write a CAT's meow reader-friendly one. I apologize for my lack of blogging during the past week. My life was 100% devoted to 2012's Ring Banquet and Ring Dance. I breathed, ate, slept, and lived Ring Dance all week long. Literally. I put my schoolwork and social life aside to be at Squires Collonial Ballroom during every free and waking moment.

During the week, the 2013 Leadership Team bonded so so much. We are now a REAL team! From unloading trucks, to sawing wood, to meticulously decorating masks, to non-stop junk food intake, to late night Walmart runs for primer...it was certainly an eventful week with an amazing group of 2013-ers. It is safe to say I am already experiencing L-Team withdrawal.

After countless hours of dedication, I am proud to say that the weekend was a HUGE success! Ring Banquet went very smoothly and Ring Dance was...well, a busier night and definitely a learning experience.

I don't have any pictures from the hectic week, but here are a few gems from the weekend.

RING BANQUET!!!!!

traditions unveiled

lots of laughs along the way

my OFFICIAL 2013 nametag

RING DANCE!!!!!

the ring

2013 ladies

marketing co-chairs

suities4L

It is so hard to believe that it's all over. Now it is our turn to start making plans for our Ring Weekend. 2013 style!

teams in modern organizations - 2013 leadership team

What?

This past weekend was the Class of 2012’s Ring Weekend. This weekend consisted of a Ring Banquet and Ring Dance, both huge parts of the Ring Tradition that Virginia Tech prides itself in. The 2012 Leadership Team spent countless hours dedicated to creating their unique class ring and planning their own Ring Banquet and Ring Dance, and now it was their turn to enjoy the Ring Tradition at Virginia Tech. 

As members of the 2013 Leadership Team, it was our role to assist 2012 in whatever they needed as far as decorating, construction, set-up, and clean-up during the week leading up to Ring Weekend. Our Leadership Team was also responsible for running the events during the weekend so that the 2012 Leadership Team could simply enjoy the weekend they had worked so hard for.

So What?

I know I speak for the rest of the 2013 Leadership Team when I say that our team is one of the strongest Leadership Teams Virginia Tech has ever seen, and I think we really proved that to ourselves and to the 2012 Leadership Team this weekend. What makes our team dynamic so strong is our diversity. There are both positive and negative effects to diversity in a group. However, this week and weekend has definitely displayed that our diversity is a positive asset to our team.

After Ring Banquet on Friday and Ring Dance on Saturday, our team met up to disassemble, clean-up, and regroup on Sunday morning. To start off the morning, our leader, Kelley English (2013 Ring Dance Chair), had us go around in a circle to discuss things that stood out to us, things we liked, and things we wanted to change for our Ring Dance next year. It was during this meeting time that I noticed our team’s diversity playing a major role in the group dynamic.

According to Levi, some positive effects of diversity include improving group process skills and establishing a safe environment. Our team improved group process skills by creating a safe environment where all team members were able to give their opinions and ideas regarding Ring Week and Weekend. This approach equalized power in the team for communication to break boundaries. Our team leader encouraged everyone’s participation, showing appreciation and minimizing impacts of status differences or favoritism toward team members.

Now What?

After this week-long marathon, our Leadership Team is ready to start preparations for the Class of 2013’s Ring Banquet and Ring Dance. Our team’s use of a safe environment to improve group process skills on Sunday morning displayed how strong of a team we are. Due to our team’s immense diversity, we have lots of new ideas on how to make Ring Weekend 2013 the best it has ever been. I can’t wait to see what our diverse Leadership Team can do in the coming year!

AOE!!

CONGRATS TO MY LITTLE, EMILY DURHAM, AND ALL OF THE NEWLY INITIATED ALPHA PHI SISTERS!!!

I am so excited for you all to begin your journey as members of Alpha Phi. Welcome to the good life. I'm so proud to call each and every one of you a sister!

AOE,

CAT

hokie hokie hokie hi!

At 5:30pm on every Wednesday of the spring semester I have OL training. All 30 OLs and OAs, plus J.Jo and Meg, meet in the basement training room of New Hall West to conduct our training sessions. This Wednesday, however, J.Jo had a special surprise for us! We all got an email that went something like this...

OLs,

Welcome back! Tomorrow’ s training session will feature VT Traditions presented by Dean Tom Brown. Tom has arranged for training to be held in one of the South End Zone suites! If driving, you can park in the Lane Stadium lot (pass not enforced after 5pm). You will need to enter through Gate 2 (behind ticket booth in the Lane Stadium lot). Either myself, Meg or an OA will direct you to the suite.

We will be providing Domino’s pizza; you will need to bring your own beverage. If you have a legitimate dietary concern and you cannot consume pizza, please let me know ASAP.

See you tomorrow,

J.Jo

What better way to start your week back at Tech than getting THAT email?! I was P-U-M-P-E-D (as Meg would say).

Wednesday evening finally rolled around, and I ran up to Lane stadium to be directed by the OAs up into the suite. And this is what I walked into...

We had some team building and bonding with our new OL teams, followed by trivia on VT history and traditions. Team Jen Davis was in the lead for the trivia just about the whole time, until the final few questions when we blew it. It's okay though! Our team is anything but a bunch of quitters. We will have our time!

What a wonderful Wednesday, to say the least! All of the OLs felt like such VIPs!! It truly was an unforgettable experience. Thanks J.Jo, Meg, and especially Dean Tom Brown for our incredible lesson on VT history, traditions, and spirit. And for taking us to one of the COOLEST places I have ever been on campus!

i'm feelin' it

Well, I am back with more NOVA spring break adventures. KW and I were waiting for the perfect day to make a Georgetown trip, and oh did we pick the perfect day. Thursday. Weather forecast: rain, rain, rain, with a chance of mudslides and flooding. There was no turning back now, so we started out the day right at 10am.

We took a pre-adventure pic before heading out, and I assured KW that "I was feelin' it." This was going to be a great day!

First things first, and that was the metro. So we drove out to the Vienna metro. Every single entrance to the metro had signs saying the lot was full. This had never happened to either one of us so we had no idea what to do. We continued to drive around for awhile, and I finally saw a man in a metro SUV, so I asked him if there were any open lots. He said we needed to drive out to the Dunn Loring metro station because Vienna was full. Really?

So we drove down Lee Highway to get to Dunn Loring. Luckily there were no signs at any of their parking entrances. We roamed around looking for a spot, and couldn't find anything, again! So we asked a random man that was walking in the parking lot who looked like he maybe worked for the metro. He definitely didn't. We asked him if he knew if this lot was full. And his response was, "you goin' to immigration." Ummmm no, just the metro actually. I guess we looked foreign? So we just continued to drive around and finally found a spot in the corner of the lot. Already quite the adventure.

Once we got out of the car (finally) we zipped up our raincoats, opened our umbrellas, and headed to the metro station. We had never been to the Dunn Loring station before, so we had a hard time finding where the metro was at first. Luckily, there was a businessman who looked like he was heading in that direction, so we decided to follow him.

After getting on the metro, we had 8 stops until Foggy Bottom where we had to get off. I don't know what it is about the metro but I always get so sleepy when I ride it. We were so pumped driving to the station that morning, but KW and I were dozing off as we rode the metro to DC.

Once we heard that Foggy Bottom was the next stop, we perked back up and were ready to get off and face the weather to get to Georgetown. It is supposedly a 15 minute walk to get from the metro station to the shops and restaurants of Georgetown. For whatever reason, the walk only felt like it took 2 minutes! KW and I were definitely prepared for and expecting the worst. But so far, our trek to Georgetown had been painless! We observed a mudslide and a few puddles along the way, but nothing unbearable by any means. 

 

And things continued to work out well for us throughout the duration of the day!

We met up with Audrey at La Madeline for lunch. We all got stuffed french toast (because it was $5 and we are sooo cheap). But it was delish! It didn't quite fill me up though, so I went over to the drink station, and to my surprise there was free bread, butter, and jam! Perfect. I am all about the free food!

After lunch, the 3 of us "shopped" around the stores of Georgetown. We went in Cusp, Urban Outfitters, J. Crew, H&M, Anthropologie, and other stores. Everything we saw was wayyy out of our price limit, but it was fun to look. 

We also went into the Georgetown Mall, in hopes of going to the National Pinball Museum that Audrey had heard about. We walked in, and the man working at the museum asked us what we were doing. We said that we were just going to take a look around. He politely responded, "in order to go in, you need to pay admission." Oops! We thanked him and left. 

Next stop: Georgetown Cupcake! The real reason we made a trip to Georgetown on this miserable Thursday afternoon. Along the way, we ran into some fake cupcake shops including Georgetown Scoops and Sprinkles.

But we were going for the real deal. I was so prepared to stand in line for at least 20 minutes, in the rain, just to get my cupcake. But as we turned the corner to walk up to the shop, there wasn't a line in sight. Was it our lucky day or what?! We walked right into Georgetown Cupcake and ordered! Wow.

I got my milk chocolate birthday cupcake, and was the happiest little girl in the world. What a fabulous ending to a fun-filled day on the rainy streets of Georgetown!