My bia comes to visit!

Michelle Park, or my bia..the name I gave her in college, came into town from Philly for 10 days. Sadly I was only able to see her one day, but it is better than nothing! Michelle, her little sister Stephanie, her chi o big sister Michelle and I all met up at McCarthy's in Lakewood for a mini reunion. Can I just take a second to tell you why I love Michelle?

I met Michelle when we both pledged for Chi Omega in 2002. Our friendship did not really start until the following summer at a Chi Omega event called Firesides, which took place in Cleveland, Oh. We became fast friends and since her hometown was only 3 cities away from mine, we were able to spend The Walk for Wishes, and a Crop Night together that summer. She even bought her first car from my parents. Going back to Kent we drifted in and out a little bit. I lived in the sorority house and she stayed in the dorms with her best friend. Between classes, the Kent Stater, my boyfriend and life, the only time we really got to see each other was when she would be at the House. It was hard on Michelle, that her closest friends all lived in one place and she lived in the dorms. It caused some separation at times, as it was hard for the rest of us to relate to all the amazing things Michelle had going on. Our friendship was not one that we needed to always be in touch. It was one, that when a boy was horrible to her, I would walk across campus, in the dark, alone to her dorm to sit with her. Or when I was publicly embarrassed by a boy and his girlfriend at a Greek event, she took it upon herself, and her incredible knowledge of vocabulary, to rip him into pieces. Michelle ALWAYS took my side on things no matter what. She ALWAYS had my back, when others were not so reassuring or positive, she would always say exactly what I needed to hear. When I wanted to hate someone, she would hate them with me. When I loved someone, she found the good in them too. When I look back on some college experiences that were very emotional to me, I see her there, feeling every emotion with me, the same way. *Brag Moment* Did I mention that Michelle is unbelievably intelligent. Not only did she have a dual major in Journalism and Spanish, but she was the editor of the Kent Stater, Panahelnic Delegate for Chi Omega, she was on the Panhel board, won the first Ann Walters Scholarship and accomplished a dozen other things that I know I am forgetting. She was worked for some amazing newspapers and has bounced from Cleveland, to AZ, CA and PA. Michelle has been a great friend to me, and no matter where her life takes her, I know we will always be friends, and that she will always be there for me. And for that I am so grateful to know someone like her. Please enjoy some of my favorite pictures of me and my "BIA"

She came to visit me in the city 2007

Senior Formal

Graduation for Michelle


Senior Retreat

Senior Cheeomunga

Her 21st!

With two of my favorites at a Sig Ep party

Cheeomunga 2004

Cage Dancers

I promise we are both good angels :)

Firesides 2003 :)

The weekend we feel inlove

Every Chi loves Owls

Chi Omegas

Our Bid Day

Deafiliation

Blast Off 2003

Getting some Love with Flash(Check out that disposable in my hand)

Drinking smirnoff at Sigma Chi

Pimps and Hoes..haha

Our most recent get together :)

the story of a hero continues

In case you were living under a rock this past week, I have posted the story ESPN did on Nick this weekend. It is cut short, I'm not sure why, I tried to find the whole story, but I really like this one. Please watch.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3960190

To be a hero

Nick and Paula

nick and nate camping

I sprained my ankle while running down main street

the last time I saw nick, two years ago

love

Nick and I

Licking the foam off my nose in Niagara

Nick and Mego

Thank you God for looking out for my dear friend Nicholas Schuyler. I remember the first time I layed eyes on Nick ( and yes I say layed eyes, because the boy is absolutely gorgeous), it was his freshman year (my sophomore) and Nate and I had walked out of koonce hall to wait for the campus loop to take us to the stadium. Standing there, like they were super models were Nick in gym clothes and his girlfriend Megan, (MEGO) she was in orange shorts and a hooters tank top, I at the time thought she worked there. But a normal human being could not take their eyes off this good looking couple, and I was no different. I later found out that Nick lived on Nate's floor, the 7th floor and they became fast friends. That spring break, Nate, Nick, Mego and 6 other guys and I drove down to Nick's dads house in Clearwater. I remember Nick makes the best scrambled eggs. It was the first time I ever had cheese in them. Although Nate and I didn't survive long after the trip, neither did Nick and Megan, we all remained good friends. When Nick decided to move down to Flordia with his girlfriend Chrissy, we didn't get to see him as much. Although when Chrissy and Nick broke up, Nick and I found ourselves taking 4 times a week on the phone about our heartbreaks. He would tell me how sad he was, and I would do the same, and then he would say "OMG, WTF" over and over and over in a grizzly voice. Eventually Nick found a new love, with his sisters friend Paula. I remember when I met Paula, Nick took me aside and said " it gets better Amy, I promise you, it does, look what I found." that was over two years ago, and I still remember it word for word. I had lost touch with Nick as Nate and began to grow more apart, but I have never forgotten our many phone calls and the way I felt that he understood how sad I was, and didn't think I was loosing it. I received the news that Nicks boat had gone missing last night at about 10:30 from Rhonda (Nate's mom). it seemed so unreal, that someone I knew could "go missing". My heart went out to his family, sister Kristen, Paula, Mego, Smithers, all of Nicks friend, but most of all Nate crossed my mind. Although Nate and I don't have any form of relationship, which is another story for another day, I found myself worried sick about him. Today at work I was telling my co-workers how one of my friends was the one missing. Just then my boss walked in and told me one of the guys had been found "clinging" to the boat. I immediately checked my phone. First I saw a text message from Mego telling me there would be a prayer ceremony for Nick in Chardon on Tuesday. Next I saw a missed call and message from Rhonda. My stomach dropped as I began to listen to the message. But felt relief when I heard her say "Hi Amy, I know its your first day at your new job, and I know you prob ally don't have your phone by you, but Paula called Nate, and Nate called me, they found Nick. He was clinging to the boat..he's alive." he's alive?..he's alive! I played those words over and over in my head, my hands shaking. Miracles do exist. Nick is a large man. Not heavy large, but the kind of guy whose 6'4, 230 pounds with like 6 % body fat. His hands are massive. All of which prob ally kept him alive. I have watched and read just about everything on the Internet involving his rescue. I watched him be pulled from the boat, to the hospital, saw him speak. Heard what he said to his mom "i just kept saying, you weren't going to come to my funeral" My heart still goes out for the three missing men and their families, but I am so happy Nick is safe and pray his recovery goes smoothly.

Fondue=FUN DO!

Last night myself and 13 of of my friends got spiffed up and had a scrumptious dinner at the MELTING POT for my 25th birthday celebration. It was a lot of fun to get together with some friends I hadn't seen in months and just as good to spend time with the ones I see every week. The food at the melting pot was amazing as usual and I enjoyed the whole experience. The only thing missing was my momma. She was so disappointed she couldn't make it. She is still in the hospital. It has been a week now. She has an infection caused by taking to many antibiotics , on top of the flu with made her dehydrated..whew. I don't really have much more to say because my brain is kind of lost at the moment. I didn't even take any pictures at my party, so I'll post some when I get my friends pictures...but until then enjoy this yummy picture of the fondue from the MELTING POT!

Obsession

So my newest obsession to be brought to my attention by my lovely co-workers is my love for planning parties..for myself that is. I would have a party for EVERY holiday..even the ones we don't get off work for, if I could afford it. In college I would be that one person decked out in marti gras beads, shamrocks, chili peppers anything that would remotely festive and themed..I was all about it. Not to mention the countless theme parties we held at our house on 311 n. lincoln..for example ..Edward 40 Hands, Christmas Character, Beer Fest, Halloween, Fat Tuesday, First weekend of the Semester, Rock n Roll...we had a great time. Below are some pictures of our fun nights out.

RockNRoll

Edward 40 Hands

Christmas Characters

So back to my obsession, in my free time I constantly go on party favor and invitation websites. I am more in to planning my own party, than say being a party planner or what not. I love the idea of themes and having tons of favors for my guests. I am a big believer in making your guests happy and that is why for my birthdays I always make them a big deal with fun outings such as the Melting Pot, Karaoke Bars, Dave n Busters and party limos. I love to provide food and beverages(can we say 20394823 jelloshots?), anything I can do to assure my friends are having as good as time as I am. All these points have led my co-workers to conclusion that I have a party planning problem..but they are total reaping the benefits so I don't think they'll be complaining anytime soon ;)

Happy Hump Day!

I am so impressed on how much my spirits have risen these past few weeks. At one point I thought I had really hit the bottom, but I picked myself up and kept going. I am optimistic that something great is going to come into my life soon. But as my bestfriend Lindsey reminded me " It takes the bad things in life for us to recognize the good things" I mean what would the good things be if there were no bad things? hmm quite the question to ponder. ha.ha. I have come to really enjoy my new outlook on life. Having a sick family has completely kicked my butt into gear. I have been heard saying " I can't do anything about our family history, or what I have done to my body in the past, but I CAN change the route that I was going and try to prevent myself from getting cancer. I have already lost 5 pounds in two weeks, and I have upped my kickboxing classes to the max (four times a week). My mom and I are walking 13 miles in the Cleveland Marathon in May, so I am going to begin training for that this coming Sunday, and I want to also train to run my first 5k this March. Health has kind of consumed my life these past few weeks. I often can't believe how I let myself spin out of control those four years. 50 pounds. Wow that's alot of beer, swensons, olive garden and mac n cheese. Not to say I will still not enjoy those things but I have definitely been hit with reality and I am glad it came crashing down on me at this point in my life. To me I have NO OTHER CHOICE. I have to get healthy. That's the bottom line :) I am so ready for new things to come into my life and I am going slightly impatient waiting for them to happen..but I know that is normal :) Much thanks goes out to my best friends who have supported me through everything. I could not be who or where I am today with out them.

My Lifesavors

Finally Friday!!

Wahoo! It's Friday! This has for sure been a VERY long week, after having two short weeks because of holidays. Good news on the homefront..grandma is being moved to a facility where she can do rehab..and it is just a short 5-10 minutes from my condo! :) Sorry for having such a sloppy blog. I am still trying to figure out all these new features. With help of Ana I am moving along slowly but surely. Thanks Ana ;) Hope everyone has a great Friday night..I'm going to see BRIDE WARS with some girlfriends! Oh lord.

Lindsey's

Happy Birthday to my two favorite Lindseys. I am so blessed to have them in my life.

Bird-I miss you so much, I think of 311 all the time and Holly Park too. Never in my life had I ever met someone who was SO much like me, and now I never get to see you. That is my fault though. I hope everything is going wonderful with Rod, I miss him too, he's great. Please keep me updated on how your life is, and come visit us, I know Lara misses you alot also, and can you believe it, you have a grandlittle! i know!! I think of you all the time and want you to always know i miss you and will always consider you one of my greatest friends..love you little twiglet.

Cugini-We have been friends since 16. although we lost some years I am so happy that in the last two years we have worked on and quickly rebuilded our friendship. I am so happy for you for how wonderful your life is and just enjoy so much being around your perky self and the fact that your always thinking of me and praying for my happieness. I hope you have a fantastic birthday and can't wait to celebrate on Saturday :) ilu