Alpha Gam Appreciation Post

As I've said before, I'm a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta International Women's Fraternity. In short terms, I'm in AGD. I think it's about time I tell you just how much I love these women.

Let's start with rush.

I'm a member of our school's marching band and a majority of the women in marching band are also in AGD, so I already knew a great number of them. At the beginning of rush I had my mind set on one sorority, and it wasn't AGD. Throughout the week, with the help of some amazing Rho Gamma's (neutral ladies), I opened my mind to the possibility of joining another sorority. I went through the rest of rush with an open mind and fell in love with that feeling of home I got when I was with the Alpha Gam's. I went into the preference room after my final round and told myself to write down the first place that came to mind when I thought of home, I found myself writing AGD.

I did not only write AGD though, I wrote my second favorite beneath as my backup in case the Alpha Gam's didn't like me. All day of walkouts I was freaking out because I did not know which bid I would have in my bag.

When it came time to see what bid was in my bag I was ready to puke. I had no idea which bid was in there and I knew that if it wasn't Alpha Gam I would be extremely disappointed.

I opened my bag and there it was. The familiar crest on the front and my name on the inside. I held that bid to my chest and closed my eyes smiling because I was so happy. One of my best friends, Lydia, looked over at me to see which I got. She thought because my eyes were closed I didn't get Alpha Gam and looked concerned. I smiled though and she knew I had.

We both signed our bids immediately.

Lydia is a member of Phi Sigma Sigma, but being in different houses hasn't affected our friendship in the least. If anything, it has strengthened it. This is us on bid day this year. :)

So anyways, I had found home. This is my beautiful pledge class at walkouts.

Me, Amber, Andrea, Chloe, Olivia, Sara, Cassie, and Steph.

After walkouts you are allowed to hand out open bids. Through open bids our pledge class grew to ten. We are the Ten Titillating Bowling Pins.

This is name reveal. :)

My pledging process was probably one of the most bonding things I have went through with my pledge sisters. It sounds stupid, but some pledge classes don't bond. Ours definitely did. Not only did I bond with my pledge class, but with my family. We are the bunnies.

My Mother, Me, and my Grandmother.

These two women are incredibly important to me. They have shown me guidance and support. I'm truly lucky to be apart of this family, in my eyes. Knowing these two has made me a stronger person and more self confident.

This year I took a daughter and I love her as well. As corny as this is, she is my pride and joy. Our family is a line of women in band and as far as I've seen, strong women. My daughter fits in perfectly.

I'm holding her and her Grandma is on the floor.

Not only do I get incredible family support, my sisters as a whole are an amazing support group. Many of them are great role models and even greater friends. I can honestly say I don't know where or who I would be without these women. 

I'm just going to spam this entry with pictures to show the great times I've had so far.

My initiation.

Winter Walkouts 

My roommate's initiation :)

Me, my little, and my little's mother.

My wife! (She was in my pledge class)

Our "Classy" event.

Me and Holly Graham (Former President)

Me, my Mother, my Wife :)

Winter Recruitment

Desserts 

Winter Walkouts 

My daughter and I :)

Those are just a few. And by few I mean barely scraping the surface. This was one of the best choices I've made in my life and I know I will never regret it.

I'm going to listen to our songs now.

Gay Oreos

Alright. This post was inevitable, so here we go.

So this was posted.

First of all, there are NUMEROUS companies that openly support gay marriage. NUMEROUS. Here is a short list.

1. Levi's
2. American Apparel
3. Nike
4. Microsoft
5. American Airlines
6. Apple
7. Google
8. Starbucks
9. Boeing
10. IBM

And that is a VERY short list. That doesn't even scrape the surface.

I'm finding it absolutely ridiculous that people are going to "boycott buying oreos." I think that if you are going to do that it's only equal that you "boycott" ALL of the companies that support gay rights. I mean, that's equality right?

Also, I don't think eating oreos will turn you gay because they support gay rights. That would mean that while people write hate on their mac's, search google for mean pictures, and drink starbucks, they are slowly turning gay. All of those companies support gay rights so using their products has to make you gay too, right? Because being gay is a choice and if you eat/drink/use gay things you are more likely to catch "the gay" and make the "choice" to be gay. I mean, that's why I'm gay. I was just riding American Airlines to Australia in seventh grade and I caught the gay and made the choice to be judged all throughout high school.

This logic is nearly as ridiculous as the logic that having gay parents makes you gay. My mom and dad are pretty straight. I mean, they are both in heterosexual relationships so...

Also, I'm pretty positive nearly EVERY SINGLE company in the world has AT LEAST one gay person working for them. I think people are unaware of just how many gay people there actually are in this world. 

So while everyone that is "boycotting" oreos sits at home feeling horrible because their off-brand cookies keep breaking in their milk, I'm going to gladly continue to use any products from any company I like. By boycotting oreos you are just leaving more for my sorority sisters and I to dip in our milk. :)

Let's Talk Politics

As the election gets closer, I thought it'd be the perfect time to discuss who has my vote.

Four years ago this was me on halloween.

You could say I was a bit obsessed.

Back then I was supporting Barack Obama mainly because he was a strong liberal and at 17 I was a strong minded liberal as well. I fondly remember reading every biography of Obama that was available and fighting with anyone who would listen. My AP Gov teacher, a card carrying republican, teased me on my reasons for supporting him everyday just to keep me on my toes. I was not able to vote in that election, but I sure tried my hardest to get everyone who could vote to vote for Obama.

Now, four years older, I still find myself a Barack Obama supporter. 

As a lesbian, gay and lesbian rights have always been a top issue for me. Barack Obama has always supported equality, but never gay marriage rights directly. I know, I know. Typical lesbian move to bring up Obama's recent declaration of support for gay rights, but it wouldn't feel right if I didn't. What can I say? It was reassuring to see and hear.

In case you didn't get to see it.

Not only did he declare his support for same-sex marriage, he celebrated June as LGBT Pride month.

June is now known as LGBT Pride month, thanks to Obama.

After all of this I truly believe that if he is re-elected he will make a bigger and more permanent change within the LGBT community. In my eyes it has been a long time coming and it is about time we have a president who is ready to give us equality for all. 

Another important thing he did before declaring support was speaking on the "It Gets Better" project. Let's be honest, there are lots of movements going on in America constantly and I find the fact that he took the time to read about this particular one and make a response incredibly heartwarming. I want someone who takes the time to see what everyday Americans are supporting and become involved as well.

Gay rights are not the only thing causing my support for Obama though. 

Health Care. I strongly believe in free health care and therefore I was very happy when Barack signed his Health Insurance Reform bill. I think it was a small step to a better future. I know full well that free healthcare means higher taxes, but I also think it is inhumane to let people die because they cannot afford the care they need. I know that if he is not put back in office all advancements toward free healthcare will come to a screeching halt.

Nifty Obama Organizing Health Care Logo

The last but not least deciding factor for me was his stance on education. As a college student attending a private school, it can get expensive. I know that like every other student, I don't want to take out a fortune in loans. Barack Obama expanded the maximum grant level and I, along with I'm sure many other students, were able to take out less money in student loans. I also know that because of this many students were able to go back to school or attend school in the first place. As we all know, we can't get anywhere today without a good education. 

One last thing, I would just like to remind everyone that we voted Bush into office twice and all he left us with was war and debt. We haven't even given Obama the same chance when all he has done is try to change things for the better. It may look and feel like nothing has changed but you have to take into account what he was left with and that wasn't much.

by YourLocalSecurity.com

Ears Open.

In the spirit of my massive download of music today I'm going to talk about some awesome songs/bands that rarely get listened too! I know this might make me come off as a bit of a music snob but I know that my friends and I listen to some pretty great music so I want to share!

This first choice comes from my great friend Lisa, who reminded me of the awesome that is Of Monsters and Men. They only have one album out currently and I downloaded the whole thing today after getting fed up with listening to all the songs on youtube over and over. Here is my personal fave, I believe it is Lisa's as well.

Alright, next stop is definitely this new BoB and Taylor Swift song. I know a lot of people are against T Swift but I didn't even know it was her in this song. It's catchy and has some pretty decent lyrics. Let's hope that the radio doesn't overplay it now.

Next is an awesome song with a really cool cup beat. There are multiple covers of this song but I still think the original is the best. It's Lulu and The Lampshades, You're Gonna Miss Me.

Last but not least, Bon Iver. I absolutely love Bon Iver. My favorite song has to be Skinny Love though, and there are also some magnificent covers of this song. Just so, ahhhhh.

These are just some basics and they barely scrape the surface but I think I'm going to post a video at the beginning of all my posts now so you can have some background music to listen too. :)

Now, let's talk building a mix cd. I make mix cds like it's my job and my friends always love them. I'm going to share with you the tricks that I use.

1. You need to know the person you are making the cd for. If they are heavily into rap you might need to put a bunch of rap on it, if they are into just about everything you have a pretty free range, it all on depends on the person.
2. I always just pick my favorite songs from whatever genre. If I like the song, usually they will too. It just always seems to work that way. It will most likely work for you too.
3. I always try to make each mix about 19-21 songs, or an hour long.
4. Try to have a nice blend of music. Don't have two songs by the same artist play one after the other or two songs with relatively the same beat. The more variety, the better.
5. Always try putting new music on their to open their ears too! A lot of people are afraid to leave their music comfort zone and by putting new songs/bands on the cd they will be forced to listen to them. If you like the songs/bands they probably will too. I mean, you are friends right?
6. Have fun! I listen to the mixes that I make for others because I like them so much! It should also be fun to make them, don't make them if it stresses you out.
7. Always test the cd before making it. I like to listen to the mix at least once or twice just to check the flow and make sure all the songs sound okay.

I hope you try it!

I'm going to text Meranda again about going to see Brave tonight.

Let Us Talk Addicting Snacks

Lately I've been eating much healthier because I've grown to learn it's not all gross as I once believed. 

I'm going to share some of my personal favorite healthy snacks because they are delicious and everyone should try them.

-Apple and Peanut Butter!

Yummmmm

You just core yourself an apple, get a dollop of peanut butter, and go at it! It is also a pretty cheap snack considering you can buy a bag of apples and be good for a few days where as a bag of chips will probably last you one day. 

-Celery and Peanut Butter!

MMM MM good

These two are an obvious pairing. Add some raisins and you've got ants on a log. Celery is 0 calories so when you eat it alone you are actually burning calories by eating it! I think it tastes better with peanut butter though so I like to put it on top. Peanut Butter gives it some protein. 

-Hard Boiled Eggs!

Just add salt!

Super easy to make and usually made in dozens. It's always a good week when you have a container of hard boiled eggs sitting in your fridge. Just add a pinch of salt and you've got a delicious snack! You can also put them in chef salads or make egg salad sandwiches. 

-Carrots and Ranch!

Yum!

You don't have to use ranch, that's just my favorite dressing-after honey mustard of course. I suggest using a light fat or fat free ranch though. Carrots are always yummy and having something to dip them in makes them even better!

-Green Tea!

Warm or Cold!

Green Tea has a crazy amount of benefits so it's always good to have on hand. It's actually remarkably filling if you are having a snack craving. It also boosts the metabolism. I take mine straight but adding sugar will help non-tea drinkers like it more.

Well, that's all I have for now.

I'm going to make some tea.

Sunburns and Singing Hippos

I've always been relatively good at avoiding sunburns, but yesterday after three hours in the sun with no sunscreen I managed to acquire a particularly painful one on my shoulders. I guess you don't realize how hot the sun actually is when you're playing water frisbee. Regardless, it was an all around fun beach day so I'm not complaining too much.

Two days ago I had an extensive conversation with my wife, Annie, about making the house into a huge blanket fort. First, yes Annie is my wife. Remember how I told you my sorority isn't really your typical sorority? Well over Spring Term my sister Annie and I got married in our backyard. Why? Because we thought it'd be awesome, we needed a reason to make fruit pizza, and why not? It was legit. Best part? Nobody even questioned it when we told them. Everyone was just like, "Of course I'll be there!" I guess it's accepted that AGD's do weird things constantly. Let me show you our beautiful ceremony.

Full House! (Nobody even laughed during our clearly ripped off vows. Hers from Bridemaids and mine from Adele.)

Our Maids of Honors and Minister Christian Gilbert Jedi Knight (He got legally ordained for this online at like 4:00am or something) (He is also one of our sweethearts)

Annie and I!

So yes, we seriously had a wedding in our sorority's backyard. We had very beautiful vows and a lovely honeymoon as well. This probably helps you get a better idea of how awesome my sorority actually is. :)

Anyways, I was talking to her about blanket forts because we wanted to make a huge one that ran through the whole house. Most importantly though, we needed a room for Rufus and the Gang to perform. Now, who is Rufus and the Gang? They are an awesome band of a singing hippo and his companions. It's better seen than explained.

Rufus and The Gang!

My personal favorites are "I Feel Good," "Call Me Maybe," "Sexy And I Know It," and "Someone Like You." You could just watch all of them though. The duck is pretty badass in "Thriller."

This all happened in the house too because well, that's what we do.

So we needed a place for them to practice and perform. That was the main focus of the blanket fort. So I thought, I need practice making said blanket fort. That's when I forced Meranda to make a blanket fort with me.

We watched "Stick It" in there. :)

This is just a mediocre blanket fort. The one Annie and I will create will be massive and need a video to explain the awesome. 

I'm going to make some more tea and watch Family Guy.

Blanket Forts and Thunderstorms.

I'm going to start this off by saying I had a fantastic Father's Day with my dad, brother, step mom, and step grandma. This is my dad, brother, and I.

We're kind of like the three stooges. 

We went to chinese and saw Rock Of Ages. That movie was awesome. It is a rock and roll musical set in the 80s. So good. I totally recommend it. Especially if you love musicals. Yeah.

So yesterday was a pretty pleasant day until it started crazy raining and thunderstorming. Now normally I can handle thunderstorms because they aren't really THAT scary and you can tell how far away lightening hits by counting the seconds between the flash and the sound. I've never had lightening be closer than two miles. UNTIL YESTERDAY. 

Meranda and I were casually watching family guy when all of a sudden there is this extremely loud crack and flash of light on the road outside my house. Yep. You guessed it. Lightening strike RIGHT OUTSIDE MY HOUSE. It sounded like a gunshot and was pretty much the scariest thing ever. Well not ever, but pretty high up there. 

Then I suggested we make a blanket fort in my livingroom so that happened. It was a pretty decent fort until my kittens decided it'd be a cool idea to jump on the middle and tear it down in one fell swoop.

We then proceeded to go to Meranda's house and make a cake.

I showed Meranda's 6 year old brother how garage band worked and he made a ...really cool song... that consisted mostly of random notes on guitar, drum kits, and alarm sounding. He then added a beatboxing track and a track of him singing about beyblades. It was entertaining to say the least. 

I'm hoping today clears up a bit so Meranda and I can go rollerblading later. Maybe see some elk. 

I'm going to read this orchestra comic I found on tumblr.

Giraffes in the backseat

So yesterday Meranda and I hopped in her new car and drove down to Ferndale, MI for the Third Annual Southeast Michigan Dyke March. It was a three and a half hour drive but I made us an awesome mix cd for the drive so it wasn't so bad.

My dear friend Lisa's brother put it on and she had been bugging me about it so I thought we might as well go check it out. We picked Lisa up at her little Amish abode and made the scary travel through crazy streets to the march. 

We arrived a little late but we eventually caught up with the actual march! We even saw a puppy in a rainbow tutu! 

Dykes on Bikes :)

They also had a few inspirational speakers which was really cool. My favorite quote was definitely, "Take action today because tomorrow is a playground for cowards." 

We creeped on some children playing at the little playground they had there while listening to the singers/bands they had performing. After, Lisa showed us downtown Ferndale which was super great because it was so gay friendly everywhere! Fantastic. 

We also made a pit stop at the Cupcake Station...

Glorious cupcakes. Let me tell you.

I'm going to wake my brother up so we can have lunch with my dad for father's day. 

Roller Speed

Remember those roller blades Meranda and I bought? We put them to good use yesterday.

One could say roller blading is the best way to get exercise. My blades are newer than Meranda's so I went super fast down hills which was pretty scary but other than that it was an all around fun experience. A good $5 spent.

When we got home there was some watermelon waiting for us. Best after roller blading snack ever.

These were as big as my head pieces. A little bit messy but completely worth it.

Tomorrow is the Dyke March in Ferndale. I am pretty positive Meranda and I are going. I am really excited for it :)

I'm going to make some breakfast.

Foreign Radio Stations

I've always been a huge fan of road trips. Mix Cds, open road, and local restaurants. Yesterday my best friend Meranda, her boyfriend David, and I went on a mini road trip to pick up her car from Grand Rapids. It's about 3 hours away from Gaylord so it's a nice little road trip.We didn't have any mix cds so we surfed through all the local radio stations. Some were actually pretty decent while others were...country. We had some nice singing times though. Here is what we stopped at/saw along the way!

Huge American flag!

At the Newaygo State Park...

A "Road Side Park"

Boardwalk at the Road Side Park

Almost home!

We also saw a whole bunch of giant statue animal things but we drove too fast to get a picture of them. When we finally got home I made my father his father's day present. I think he is going to really like it and I'm excited to give it to him.

When we were downstate we also came across a really awesome thrift store where Meranda and I picked up some rollerblades for five dollars. Yep. FIVE DOLLARS. I also found a unicorn beanie baby for 99 cents. Good finds I believe.

I'm going to go rollerblade with Meranda.

Fishtail Braids Are Easier to Make During British Movies

So as I've said before I have a huge heterosexual crush on Ed Westwick. I mean, how could you not? Look at this beautiful man.

So anyways. This caused me to search my netflix for all the movies he was in besides Gossip Girl. This is when I came across Chalet Girl. I just finished it. Let me just say, Ed has a beautiful english accent but his natural, british, accent is possibly sexier than Johnny Depp's. That is saying something.

Along with all the Ed Westwick swooning I did today I got an interview at Maurice's! It's tomorrow and apparently I have to take some sort of test? I'm not sure. Also, my boss from Payless had me finish filling out paperwork so I will hopefully begin work there again soon as well. I will soon be making it rain I guess I could say. 

I learned how to fishtail braid and waterfall braid last night. I have not been able to stop fishtail braiding since. It's bad. Not as bad as the making beats with cups addiction I'm currently going through. I advise everyone against learning the cup game unless you have lots of time and patience with yourself. 

I'm going to go through my closet and try to find something for my interview.