"you did what!?"

The happiest place on earth was certainly happy. Even at 6:30 in the morning. Or during hour 15.

Since we did go to DisneyWorld for SB12, we did have to spend at least some time in the parks. 

Cue our master plan. 4 parks, 18 hours, 12 girls, 1 beautiful day.

There were many doubters and people who told us it couldn't be done. There were those who said, "Disney deserves more than that! You aren't going to do it justice!" 

Oh, but we did it. We broke all records. We shattered the Disney expectations ceiling. We went where no group had gone before. 

Our journey started at 6:00 in the morning, unfortunately without Disney songs and princesses. We headed to our quick monorail ride (some would say, one of the best rides of the day), to Park #1: EPCOT. I kind of want everyday of my life to start like a Disney park opening. A man comes on the speakers pumping you up, starting a countdown. 3...2...1...and giant canons fire out confetti and streamers followed by blaring songs full of Disney inspiration. Just the beginning of what was to come. 

I won't boring you with a paragraph detailing about every move we made in the park, every line we stood in, and what we ate. That's just mean. No one wants to read that. But I will list it off, for documentation purposes. And, because, this may or may not be one of the proudest accomplishments of Spring Break. (or maybe of this semester...maybe this year....maybe just my whole life)

EPCOT:                       HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS:       

Soarin'                          Tower of Terror

Test Track                    Rockin' Rollercoaster

Captain E.O                 Star Tours

Mission Space

Finding Nemo

MAGIC KINGDOM:                     ANIMAL KINGDOM:

Monsters Inc Laugh Floor               Kilimanjaro Safari

Space Mountain                              Dinosaur

Buzz Lightyear                                It's Tough To Be A Bug

Tea Cups                                         Expedition Everest

Splash Mountain

It's A Small World

Jungle Cruise

Haunted Mansion

Just to top it off, we also ate ice cream at 3/4 of the parks. (We ate dinner at the 4th one, so that's our excuse.) 

If you feel impressed, you should be. So, check us out.

Although the rides were great and I LOVED the Disney atmosphere, it was more about all of the fun we had. We played games: inappropriate Telephone, Stare & Scream, and Down By The Banks. We played riddles that had to deal with albatrose soup or apples and spilled water. We sang songs and yelled things and interacted with the workers.

This was our favorite ride, Dinosaur. Mainly because we finally got to be all together. And we spent the whole time screaming and cowering in fear and holding hands. Because that's just what girls do.

Also, just as a side note, and a fun fact. Avery and I really like speed walking through crowds, as documented in above picture. And being the leaders. So, our group often looked like this throughout the day. Abby & Avery leading aggressively, even though we have NO idea where we're going and everyone else following us in a pack. It's a miracle that we all managed to stay together. 

The best moment of the day was on the Safari ride when we learned Swahili aka an African language. Our tour guide taught us that "jambo" means hello (even though we already knew this from Mean Girls). For the rest of the day, and the rest of the trip, we "jamboed" everything. 

Jambo, ice cream, jambo. Jambo, monorail, jambo. Jambo, Disney worker, jambo. It really is an all purpose word. 

We were the most fun group at Disney. People were jealous. We saw their looks. 

We know...we're kind of awesome.

jambo spring break jambo

One week later and I'm still dreaming about going back.

Orlando, FL. Where I spent a beautiful week over Spring Break with some lovely ladies.

Really couldn't have asked for anything better. Perfect mix of relaxation and fun.

Every day really was an adventure though. We had random photo shoots throughout the week. We celebrated Pi Day and pretended like we were Mathletes, the Indianapolis chapter.

We spent every day at the pool: playing games, making giant whirlpools, taking naps, playing cards, making friendship bracelets, and drinking lots and lots of citrus iced tea lemonade.

Every night, we made dinner together, had a bible study, and then went out for ice cream. Avery tried to take pictures of all of us every night with our ice cream. YUM.

Our favorite night is "fancy pants night." We all get dressed up and head out for a night on the town. We ate dinner at the restaurant at the resort. And, of course, another photo shoot.

Some of our other favorite things of the week were...

1. Our princess crown that one of the girl's mom sent us.

2. Texas Caviar...the best breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack/appetizer/allyoucaneatanytime food

3. Playing jump rope with glow sticks all taped together.

4. Scavenger Hunt around Downtown Disney...Amazing Race style. 

5. Baths in our fancy bathtubs with bubbles so we can look like Santa. 

6. And most importantly, wearing little girl Disney princess. Why? Because I can. :)

cigars, books, & brandy...oh my.

You know you're a college professor when...

• you wear khakis to work...and at home
• you would pay $300 for a book and think nothing of it
• you reference your British graduate education on a daily basis
• you call your lectures "performances" and yourself an "actor"
• you assign more books than all other classes combined
• you say "life is too short for bad pizza...and bad beer"
• you are known as "Prof" at the bar you frequent after work
• you eat lunch with your colleagues in a wood paneled dining room 

Definition of my British/Nigerian History professor. 

it's march...say what!?

It is March. Not April. Not May. Just in case you forgot. Because Mother Nature seems to have forgotten here in Indianapolis.

The sun is shining. 

The flowers are blooming.

The lawn outside Alpha Phi is full of blankets, towels, and girls "studying."

People are out and about.

And it means that I get an excuse to go for walks. And drink lots and lots of iced tea. And wear sundresses.

And wear my new spring shoes. (Thanks mom!)

And go for impromtu lunches at ZEST.

Yay for spring.

"you live in that?"

Today in my art class, we had a guest speaker named Jay Shafer. He is the start of what is called the "Tiny House Movement." He builds houses that are anywhere between 80-400 square feet. Which is at least 1/4 of the size of what the average American lives in. Ridiculous.

He kind of seems like a crazy hippie who isn't really in touch with what it takes to live in America and what the modern lifestyle really makes us do. But, he knew all about this. He grew up in Orange County, the center of materialism if there is one. And, then he started asking himself questions. About what a home actually is. About what a person actually needs versus what isn't necessary. About how to change materialism to reflect a good appreciation of stuff, not just an accumulation of stuff.

Jay Shafer was one cool dude. So, even if I can't envision myself living in a house like that anytime soon, I can still look at his principles and respect him. He is a man trying to live a life where he is eliminating everything he doesn't need and making room for what he does need to grow.

And, it doesn't hurt that the houses are just SO cute!

I think that this principle is something that everyone, myself included, can think more about. I know I have too much stuff. I know I have too much stuff that I don't need. I know that I need to start thinking about how I'm going to tackle the idea of getting my excess of clothes from Indianapolis back to Colorado in May.

let the green grass grow

If someone wanted to torture me, all they would have to do is put me in the dollar section at Target and not let me buy anything. But seriously. 

I try to not let myself go into Target unless I really need something because I know I will always end up walking out with something. My bank account takes that seriously. 

Last trip to Tar-get Boutique, Meredith and I decided to try our green thumbs at growing a potted plant in our room. It was a forget-me-not...aka our sorority's flower. 

And, so it began...

And here it is now!!!!

LOOK AT IT GO! 

So proud of us. 

fancy pants

One of my favorite things in Indianapolis makes me feel high-class. It makes me feel very cool. It makes me feel like I'm a hipster...which is kind of my unspoken dream. Even though I tell everyone about it. 

So, every month, I countdown the days until First Friday. The first Friday of the month is probably my favorite day of the whole month. Except for the 1st of the month...because I get to say "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit" for a month of good luck. Just like my junior high geography teacher told me. Superstitions. Cool.

Anyways...

I get to go to art galleries and pretend like I know what I'm talking about. I get to eat free food. I get to hang out with people who love this too. I get to get ideas for what I want to create at some point, eventually. I get to watch the awkward high schoolers and their interactions. I'm 110% obsessed. If it was every Friday, I would be there. 

The food was especially good this time. 

Avery and I really love going to First Friday together! 

My favorite piece of art from this time! It was part of a whole gallery of bird themed works. Cool.

And, if I didn't already eat enough that night, had one of these delicious key lime cupcakes while watching the last Butler basketball game of the year. It's fine...they will be back next year. It's the "Butler Way." 

My countdown to the next First Friday is already started. 

here comes the sun

Why does sun make everything better??? It was a beautiful, 65 degree, sunny, lay-out-on-your-lawn-and-get-Starbucks-ice-tea kind of day. It's nice when you can meander around outside instead of putting your head down and walking quickly to class.

So, sun is great.

But, so is...

Skyping with friends! The BAT CAVE was reunited last night. The one and only Kendall Douglass is very solely missed here in Indianapolis.

We missed her weird faces. And her weird accents. And her weird comments. Pretty much, just being really weird, as only bats can.

We were REALLY excited to be talking to each other!

In other news, I am now officially a Recruitment Counselor for next school year. Basically, I pretend like I'm not in my sorority so I can counsel all the incoming freshman girls. Basically I think I'm a YoungLife leader for potential freshman sorority girls...why do I frame everything I do through that lens?