Happy Halloween!

 

I don't have any cool plans for Halloween but wanted to share a funny video :)

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Ellen's Scare Montage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9oYwheDY4Q

Kindle Fire

Last year I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas and lately I have been using it like crazy. With only two months left in the semester I've been finishing up a lot of my course work and have had some extra time on my hands. I've always loved reading and love that I can have new books at my fingertips.

You can look at all of the technical stuff about the Kindle Fire and the new Fire HD on Amazon, but these are my personal reasons for why a Kindle is great for a college student. 

• It's easier to carry around campus than a laptop, or multiple books. I still take my class notes by hand so I hate lugging around my heavy laptop just to use during a class or lunch break. The Kindle easily fits in my backpack and I don't have to wait for it to load every time I turn it on.
• Books on a college student's budget. Even though I love reading, I can't afford to buy a new book every week. The library at my school is an academic library so their "pleasure reading" section is limited. With my Kindle I can borrow books, get free books, and I always take advantage of the 100 books for under $3.99 that Amazon has each month. Plus, Amazon gift cards also make a great gift for book buying. 
• Textbooks. I have bought one of my books for school on the Kindle and loved that I didn't have to carry around another book and I could still highlight and take notes like I would with a regular book. Also, I loved being able to search for key words during a class discussion or when working on an assignment. 
• Easy to use. I have a basic knowledge of how to use computers but I am definitely not an expert. The Kindle is super easy to use and I've never had any problems trying to figure out how something works. For example, the Kindle Fire is integrated with Amazon so that all of your book, video, or app purchases are directly linked to your Kindle. You don't have to worry about downloading anything.
• Unlimited cloud storage. Don't worry about  running out of memory or space on your Kindle. All of your purchases are available and stored automatically.

Why did I choose a Kindle over an Ipad? The main reasons were cost and simplicity. I already have a laptop and I like to take my class notes by hand so I don't need the extra features of an Ipad. The Kindle has internet access, the ability to watch videos and download apps, as well as books. That was really all I needed and it comes at an affordable price.

I haven't had any problems with my Kindle Fire so far and I love using it. I think it would make a great gift for any college student that likes to read. I also looked a long time for a Kindle cover that I liked and I chose this one from Vera Bradley:

It would make a great gift as well. Like I said, these are just my personal reasons for why the Kindle is so great. Definitely check out Amazon's website to look at all of the features and check out the new Kindle Fire HD!



Service and Honor:Proud Greek

This past week has made me so proud to be a member of the Greek community!

First, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Spina Bifida Half-Marathon with my sisters. We were able to cheer on all of the participants and passed out water during the race.

 

Not only was it inspiring to see all of the runners, but I was proud to see my sisters volunteer through the pouring rain until the very last participants completed the half-marathon.

 

This week I also had the honor of being initiated into Order of Omega, an organization that recognizes the leadership and achievement of fraternity men and sorority women across the U.S. To be tapped for membership you must be a junior or senior who has exemplified high standards in the areas of scholarship, leadership and involvement.

 

 

I was welcomed into Order of Omega by several of my Delta Gamma sisters. This week has been one of those times when I look back and think, I am so happy that I went Greek! It has opened up so many opportunities for me and has only pushed me to be a better version of myself.

To learn more about Order of Omega you can visit their website:http://www.orderofomega.org/  

 

 



Trivia Night Fundraiser

These past few days I have been super busy with class and campus events. Just this past weekend one of the organizations that I am in hosted a trivia night on campus. As Norse Leadership Society we sponsor leadership development events throughout the year including a retreat to Gatlinburg, TN for upperclassmen and a white water rafting trip in West Virginia for freshmen. To raise money for these retreats we invited teams of up to eight people to compete in ten rounds of trivia. The trivia categories range from cats to football and boy bands.

 

 

I was able to get a beautiful team of Delta Gamma's to come out and support trivia night :)  They were very proud that they got all of the questions in the boy band category correct.

 

 

This is the second year that we have held this event and as you can see, we had a great turn out! Each person pays an entry fee and teams have the option of buying one answer per round. We offered the teams free food and prizes for the top two teams. At the end of the night we raised over $2,500 dollars.

 

Most importantly, it was fun for those that participated and worked the event. A little friendly competition gets stirred up and all of the teams cheer like crazy when they get an answer right.

 

This would be a great event to start on your campus. We came up with the categories, used a space on campus, and got most of the food donated so there was little money coming out of our pocket. The key to success is of course advertising and making sure your members get out and recruit teams. 

Favorite Five Friday: Decorating Pumkins

There are so many ways to decorate a pumpkin if you don't want to go through the hassle of getting out all the guts! I wanted to share the top five ways that I have found to decorate pumpkins without carving. I tried to pick ideas that not only looked great, but also would not be a huge time commitment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Ribbon

This is probably one of the easiest ways to decorate your pumpkin. Chose different types of ribbon and hot glue them on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Rhinestones

Once again, a glue gun can do wonders!

 Rhinestones also come in adhesive strips that would make this technique super easy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Chalkboard Paint

Paint your whole pumpkin or just a section of it for the option to change the decoration every day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Duct Tape

This is simple and duct tape comes in so many different patterns now! Mix and match your favorite colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Googly Eyes

This is probably my favorite! These pumpkins are adorable when coverd with a bunch of googly eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you are having a happy fall!

 

Image Credits:

http://www.allpeoplequilt.com

http://www.squidoo.com/no-carve-pumpkin-decorating-ideas?utm_source=google&utm_medium=imgres&utm_campaign=framebuster

http://blog.lulus.com/general/diy-pumpkin-decorating-without-carving/

http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/holidays/halloween/pumpkin-decorating-00100000065686/page4.html

http://www.allyou.com/budget-home/crafts/halloween-craft-ideas-00411000069414/page5.html

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/duck-tape?before=1349480890

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Fundraising Raffle Baskets

My apartment is currently being taken over by raffle baskets! I am in an organization called Norse Leadership Society and this week we are selling raffle tickets to raise money for care packages for our military.

Everyone got donations and I put them together into baskets. We are selling tickets for $1 or 6 tickets for $5. People can buy tickets for three days and then we are having the drawing at our trivia night event. This is a great way to fund raise for your organization or philanthropy.

Here are some basket ideas that we are using:

 

Men's Basket: Bottle opener, body wash, shampoo, movie, shooter set, coozies, croakies, golf balls, and snacks

 

Women's Basket: hair products, scent set, movie, manicure set, lotion, id holder, loofah, picture frame, journal, notecards, picture album, make-up bag, etc.

 

Dorm Basket: Blanket, dish rags and towels, school supplies, bathroom set, air freshener, snacks

 

Chocolate and Coffee Lovers: Variety of chocolates including Esther Price box, Lindt truffles, and Godiva, coffee mug, Starbuck's instant coffee, coffee creamer, Starbuck's gift card

 

School Spirit Starter Kit: banner, pom-poms, car decal, lanyard, Tervis tumbler, traveling mug, folder

 

We also have a carpet cleaning gift certificate and a  "Night Out" basket with zoo tickets and gift certificates to the movies and various restaurants.

To make the baskets look really nice I got cellophane and ribbon from the dollar store to dress them up.

Hope you enjoy these ideas!

 

 

 

 





Slow Cooker Hashbrown Casserole

Hashbrown casserole is one of my favorite comfort foods and I couldn't wait to try it in the slow cooker. It took me fifteen minutes to mix everything and put it in the slow cooker and all of the ingredients cost about eight dollars. This is super easy for college students to make for breakfast or dinner.

 

 

1 bag frozen hashbrowns

1 8oz container sour cream

1 can cream of chicken

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

1/2 cup butter melted

desired amount of sausage

 

 Make sure to spray the inside of the slow cooker with non-stick spray or you will be scrubbing the sides!

Mix everything together and put it in the slow cooker. Cut the amount of sausage you want to use into small pieces and mix it in as well.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

 





Sorority Big Little Reveal

My last post was about all of the cool gifts I made for my Little sister in Delta Gamma. Now on to the fun details about how they revealed who the Big sisters were.

The Littles recieved small gifts and clues about who their Big was for three days. On the night of the third day we had reveal. At reveal all of the Bigs hid pin boxes that we made with our Little's name on them. Once the Little found the pin box they had to put on the sock that was with it. All of the Bigs were behind a long line of blankets with our foot sticking out. The Little had to stand in front of the hidden person that had on a sock that matched their sock.

 

Me and my Big hiding from our new Littles!

Here is my Little and new Twiddle waiting to see who their Bigs are.

 

We counted to three and everyone dropped their sheets at the same time. Here is the big moment!

 

 

 

Then the Littles got the rest of their gifts and got to put on their family stich shirt.

My Family Tree

 

 

 My Little, Twiddle, and Me

 

 

I loved doing our reveal this way and am so happy to have added a Little, Twiddle, and Two cousins to my DG family!

 

 

 



Sorority Little Gifts

Last night was our Big/Little Reveal and I got my perfect Little :) I will share more about our actual reveal later, but first I wanted to share the gifts I made throughout the week. I know people are always looking for gift ideas for their sisters.

We do three days where the Littles get a small gift and a clue. On reveal night we give them the rest of their gifts.

Here are some of the crafts and gifts that I gave my Little.

 

 

If some of you Delta Gamma's are confused about the giraffe stuff, that is unique to our DG chapter. Before our chapter officially became Delta Gamma they formed and chose the giraffe as their symbol.

 

Here are all of our gifts together on Day 1 and 3.

 





Handmade Cards

I love sending and receiving mail! Especially while I am away at college. It's nice to know that someone back home is thinking of you. I personally love homemade cards and think they show a little extra love.

 

 

You can buy everything you need to make a few cards at Walmart or a craft and hobby store. I usually just use extra scrapbooking supplies that I have on hand.

Here are a few simple designs that you can adapt and use.

 

 

These are a little more time consuming because of the shape.