The reunion

Last Saturday night was the sorority reunion you all have been hearing about. We had a blast! We started the day meeting at The Dugout (just as i said we would in an earlier post) but found out that they don't open until 6pm now. WHAT??? THIS IS NONSENSE!! When I was in college they were open by noon! Don't worry though, turns out that Amanda knew the owner and he let us in for a couple of pitchers anyways! We spent the next hour or so catching up and waiting on Knoblauch to meet up with us.


After bar #1 we went to check in at the house. They have done some updates and it seemed kinda weird to walk into the house after 10 years. The ladies took us to room Omicron where we put our suitcases down and headed for dinner at Coaches. This is a staple restraunt in Emporia and we used to have dinner here a lot. The food was the same and the conversation was even better. Turns out that our waitress was a active in the house and was very sweet to us. At dinner we looked over scrapbooks from the good old days and got a lot of good laughs in.
After Dinner, we drove to the liquor store and then to sonic to "spike" some drinks and smuggle them into the sorority (for old times sake). Before heading back to the house we had to stop at the Sigma Pi house (Todd's fraternity) and hang out in the parking lot. You see, this is where we spent A LOT of time when we were in college and, sadly, this house has turned into a foreign exchange house.....the Sigma Pi house closed due to lack of funds and low membership numbers. It is sad to think that one of the best fraternities on campus just 10 short years ago has become the exchange student housing. We took some photos there just like old times. This one is on the back porch right outside of Todd's old room.

We then went back to the sorority house to get ready (and drink our drinks) then it was off to the bars. Our first stop was at Beer 30 (formerly Waterworks) It was fun and right off the cops walked in looking for minors (and we were all secretly hoping that they would come and card us but no such luck)


After Beer 30 we called the DD's to take us to Mulligans (formerly Babes) where Knoblauch bought us shots and we had a couple of drinks. Then we were ready to go dancing so we went to Cole's (aka Club 707). This bar was a little more crowded so we spent a good majority of the time standing on the dance floor acting like we were dancing (and laughing at all of the kiddos that were.)


After Cole's we went back to Beer 30 where we stayed for about 5 minutes---but it was just long enough for a girl to jump outta her car and yell at me for taking a random picture of something she apparently didn't want me to have a photo of. She was super pissed at me and I just couldn't stop laughing at her. She DEMANDED that I delete the photo and I kept laughing so she just got back in her car. I thought it was pretty funny but I guess Amanda was a little frightened. After we thought about it we decided that either
a. She was with a man that was not her husband or
b. she is on parole and shouldn't be near a bar or
c. she thought she would scare me.
Whatever the reason, we spent the rest of the night and the next morning laughing about "crazy, psycho girl".

We had the DD's pick us up and take us back to the Dugout where we had a few more until last call and then the DD's came again to take us to the Best Damn pizza place around. Pyramid Pizza. We ordered our Bones (cheese filled bread sticks---HEAVEN!!) and a slice of pizza. Inhaled that and the DD's were back for us again to take us home.
Now, you would think that the night was over because we are getting old, right? WRONG!! We went to the Kappa Sig house for an after hours party. In that 30 minutes we were there we figured out that the house is EXACTLY the same--same sticky basement floor, same DJ table and benches in the basement, same glass bottle broken in on the bathroom floor, and I am pretty sure it was the same guy from 10 years ago passing out beer to anyone who entered the house....which would make him 85 so I may not be right about that.

We decided that we were done and walked to the sorority house to head to bed. It was 5am!!! WOW!!
Honestly, it was a great night and I wish that more people could have made it back for the fun. I think this is going to be an annual thing so mark your calendars ladies. Join in the fun next year. Thanks for listening to me ramble when all I needed to say was that I had the best weekend catching up with some of the best people I know.

Tomorrow is the BIG day....The day where I get to go back to college and re-live the good old days. A group of my girlfriends and I are going to Emporia State to our Sorority house to have a "slumber party" and catch up. It is something that is WAY overdue and I can't express how excited I am!!
We are planning on meeting at 3pm at the Dugout which is a hole in the wall bar we used to go to on Friday's at 1pm after class. I hear that it is no longer a beer only establishment and they have moved up to selling liquor. WOO WOO!! Since it will be only 3pm i think I will just stick to beer. LOL

Then we are going to check into the house and see who all has come back for this shin-dig. I think it would be a good idea to get some dinner before we try and party like rock stars because I think we will soon realize that we are not as good at this as we used to be!!

I think a lot about my college days and the wonderful friends I made. I love my life now and I wouldn't change a thing about it but I do miss those days! Life was so simple back then....We only THOUGHT it was rough!!
I was chatting with a couple of my friends about this just last night and we were laughing about how devastating it was to be called in front of the "standards committee". I should know....it was almost part of my weekly routine for at least one year of my college years!! The friendships I made in the house are priceless and I know I made a lot of "lifetime friends." You know the kind, where no matter how much time passes, when you get together with them, it seems like not a day has gone by. Those are the girls I am going back to college to see. I just can't wait!
I KNOW we will have a good time and there will be several photos to post! I just hope that we can last longer than 10pm!!
I do have to give a shout out to Calli's mom, Robin because she is in the hospital tonight with kidney stones. Apparently she has the mother load of all stones and they may have to operate in the morning. I am crossing my fingers that it passes tonight (even though I hear that is not so much fun) and she has a speedy recovery. GOOD LUCK ROBIN!!
I will post some pictures and an update of a fun evening out soon.
Thanks for checking in!
KELLY

This one is for Sunni!!

Here are a few of MY fav-or-ite things...

1. My husband who is an amazing dad and husband and friend....on and on....He is great and I am lucky.

2. My family. My parents and sister are amazing. And I am not even going to tell you how wonderful Karley is....You already know! :)

3. My Tempur-Pedic bed and the new blanket I just bought at target last weekend. (also my electric blanket!)

4. Playing board games with Todd and Karley before bedtime.

5. Fall TV shows.

6. Christmas Decorations...I decorate every room in the house!

7. Mexican Food and Margaritas

8. Re-connecting with old friends.

9. Getting Christmas Cards in the Mail from all of my friends

10. being able to stay-at-home with Karley

11. Shopping

12. Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Gymboree, Target and American Girl

13. Knowing that I have an AMAZING kid who is a very sweet little girl.

14. Diet Coke (aka-my Liquid Crack...only Heather and Richelle will understand this!!)

15. Our Family Vacations.....Jamaica, cruises, Disney World.

16. my UGG boots--they are so comfy!

17. Neil Diamond

18. a clean house

19. the smell of cinnamon and pine and just washed laundry

20. scrapbooking

21. sweatpants and comfy socks

22. tailgating

23. my Chi Flat iron and hair dryer (silly, I know but they are AMAZING!)

24. our new family photos (thanks Sunni!)

25. weekends when we have nothing to do....(this RARELY happens but i do love them!)

So, this is my list. I liked Sunni's idea so much that I thought I needed to remind myself of a few things I am thankful for. It was kinda fun! Now I think it is time to crawl into my warm, comfy

bed....Night!

Weekend at the Newby's

Karley and I had a great weekend! We traveled 5 hours to my great friends, Sarah and Chris Newby's house in Edmond, Oklahoma. They have a 2 year old boy named Austin and a one month old girl named Kate. So sweet!!

Karley absolutely loved giving Kate her bottle and helping out with the bath. She spent most of the 5 hours home asking when we were going to get us one of those little babies. LOL

Sarah has been a friend of mine for as long as I can remember. My parents and her parents were great friends and more-so my mom and her mom were the best of friends. Sadly, her parents have both passed away but I am thankful that Sarah and I still keep in touch!

I was so happy to have her brother come and visit one night with his wife, Regan and their twin boys Payne and Oliver. They are too sweet and I have forgotten how busy 2 year old's are. The words "Mine" and "NO" were constant! They were really fun to play with. I took Austin a new race track to play with and it was a big hit with all of the kiddo's. (too bad it only came with 2 cars!) I am sure Chris LOVED me for bringing it because it literally had 50 pieces and it made a lot of noise.....SORRY CHRIS!

Sarah, Karley and I spent most of Saturday shopping and going to lunch at a "real restaurant" so Sarah could enjoy being waited on! We had a lot of time to catch up on some old stories and good times that we had growing up.

Todd spent the weekend at work and going to the KSU game. On Sunday he got the Christmas lights hung on the house and forgot to check them before he put them up so one whole strand doesn't work. By the time Karley and I got home he decided to give up and we all went out to dinner. :)

There is nothing I love more than catching up with old friends. I am very excited about next weekend! We are having a sorority reunion at Emporia and some of my closest friends are coming back for it. I can't wait!

Bad Words

SO.......Funny story. We have this routine in our family. Each night, right before we put Karley to bed we have her tell us about the best part of her day as well as the worst. Usually it is a combination of Ms. Little said I was a good listener and someone stuck their tongue out at me. Innocent, I know. But---last night was the doozie.....She asked us if we knew any bad words. We, of course, immediately flipped it and said "Do you?"
Now, keep in mind that for Karley, bad words (in the past) have been "you are stupid" or "Shut Up". However, she said that she DID know one really bad one. She then proceeded to flip us off.

Todd almost flipped off the bed and I had to hold back my laughter.....I asked her if she knew what that meant and she said:

"No, but I do know that I am not supposed to do it in front of a teacher or I will get time on the wall". Oh Crap......

So, we had the first (of many) talks about what bad words are and how it is just good to be nice to everyone no matter what all the while Todd just sat there with his mouth open completely stunned.

I am no dummy....I remember when the older boys on the bus made me go home from Kindergarten and ask my mom what F-U-C-* spells. I however, having the attention span of a 5 year old, I got off the bus and asked my mom:

"what does F-U-C-T spell?"

She immediately told me "Nothing--go play".

But....a few minutes later, I remembered so I marched back up to my mom and said :

"I messed up....I meant to ask what F-U-C-* spells but its okay because I already know it spells Fuc*.

Yup.....that word came outta my mouth at the sweet age of 5...I am sure she was proud.

This story is proof that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Karley may LOOK just like Todd but she has my personality.

I think I was one of the only 5 year olds who was not afraid of boys and spent most of my time chasing them on the playground.....Karley does the same thing. She has around 10 boyfriends that she will list off whenever asked and Thank God Daddy is still one of them or we would be homeschooling.

Todd was furious about the new form of sign language that Karley learned. Me, on the other hand, I was thankful that she told us before she decided to try it out on a teacher.....Can you imagine the phone call I would have gotten?

Kids are funny! And I am going to have my work cut out for me.

Below is the gang from school (all with older siblings) who LOVE to teach Karley all about what not to say. This is kindergarten folks.....can you imagine how much fun first grade will be??

Here is one of Karley chasing Jack. They chase each other really. When She catches him....he then chases her and on and on.

Nolan Wedding Weekend

This past weekend was John and Renee's wedding. Todd and I had a blast catching up with some old college friends. The wedding was beautiful and we are so happy to have been a part of their day. Below are some fun pictures from the reception. Congrats again John and Renee....have fun in Jamaica!

<-------- John and Renee Nolan....Congrats guys!

<--------- John and I. He is one of the best guys I know.

<-------- Josh, John and Todd

<----------Josh, Cori, and Karley

<-----Manhart and his daughter, Jersey. Isn't she adorable???? He has another daughter, Journey who is just as adorable but she was sleeping....

Josh, Jason and Todd------------------------->

Late into the night! John, Josh and Todd

God...this picture reminds me of our college days!--------------->

<--------the 2 little boys in this picture are Darren and Melissa Orton's kids....Too cute! The other 2 kiddo's are Jersey and Karley

<--------Josh, Matt and Erica Hendron and Cori Carr. Bless Erica's heart...she is 8 months pregnant and just wanted to get home and go to bed. They, too have an adorable daughter who has just left with her parents.

Gotta run and put karley in the bathtub.....I will post later in the week.

KEL

Hello All....

Well, I couldn't resist getting on my soap box for my first posting! SO, Now it is time to fill you in on what's going on with the family.
There are 3 of us in this household, and yes, we are happy with just 3. Would we take on one more? Sure but it is not looking like it is in the plan for us! Regardless, Karley is our pride and Joy and we are so proud of her. She is in Kindergarten this year and despite a rough couple of days, is loving every minute of it. I have been busy volunteering at her school to keep myself busy. (who knew that there would be so much to do!!) I am still busy as ever running Karley to Daisy's, gymnastics, cheer class and play dates.....I am still working one day a week at the dentist office and cleaning a couple of places for extra income as well.

Todd is still at Midway Wholesale only now he works in the Lawrence office which means he leaves the house super early and gets home super late...I just thank God that his company is still busy despite what's going on in this scary economy. (fingers crossed it stays that way!)

We recently traveled to Walt Disney World in September with my parents and my sister and had a blast. Can you imagine being the only child with 5 adults to spoil you rotten? Karley sure made out like a bandit and she loved every minute of it.
Above is a picture of my parents and Karley on the teacup ride that my mom was so excited to go on until she climbed into it with karley and then refused to get on it again....LOL



That's it for now....I gotta go get ready to go to the school. Thanks for visiting!
KELLY