Big/Little

Hey y'all,

This past weekend through all of my packing and apartment hunting and a super long to do list I was able to find time in my busy schedule to attend the Big/Little reveal of Phi Beta Chi Kappa Chapter! This semester my family has a wonderful new addition, my great-grandlittle, cFm!

Big/Little is done differently by every sorority and even individual chapter but a run down of how our Big/Little works is that all of the new members and Bigs fill out surveys with fun questions like favorite candy, favorite  movie you have seen recently, song that describes your life (both me and my gglittle put Taylor Swifts "You Belong with Me", back when I was a Big and her survey this Fall) and choices like Spring or Summer, etc. All of the Littles received the Bigs' surveys to read and all of the Bigs get the Littles' surveys to read and connect with them. Then typically our sorority retreat occurs with more Big/Little bonding time. Then low and behold, the Littles and Bigs make a Top 5 list of who they wish to see as their Big or Little and then the internal social chair and new member educator match everyone up. 

That is all of the nitty gritty details. Now for the fun stuff! Big/Little Week! Each day has a theme and the littles receive gifts not knowing who their beautiful Big is. Our days are themed: baked gods/treats, Memo Boards/Canvas/Bulletin Boards, Flowers @ Chapter (typically with some great delivery guys), Relaxation/Pajamas, Family Traditions, and then the basket at Reveal!

I hope you are ready for a lot of photos...

The last family picture before the newest addition. 

My little and glittle awaiting the new addition! It is the last time as just them.

This year reveal included the littles receiving a clue to where their Big was hiding on the quad and a puzzle piece to match. My grandlittle was so clever and tricked my gglittle all week! cFm arrived at the location we were hiding to see another Big/Little get matched. She looked so sad and confused but little did she know that kBm was just around the corner. 

cFm is so lost and confused.

 

The first hug as Big and Little! cFm was so excited that kBm is her Big! 

 Before the new addition.

 And after! Welcome to the FISH FAM!

 BIG AND LITTLE!

 I made pocket t-shirts and my grandlittle made us bows. Cue photoshoot.

Little, Big, Grandbig, and Great-Grandbig

Amor Via Vitae in Christo 

I love my family.

What have you been up to this weekend?

Preppy, Postgrad & PROFESSIONAL!

Hey y'all,

I AM OFFICIALLY EMPLOYED!

It feels so good to say that. I hope that makes up for why I have been MIA. Long story short, I was contacted for an interview at the beginning of the month for this wonderful position. After the interview I was feeling great and rather confident which is strange for me but it all worked out. I had a follow up interview the following week, then low and behold I received an official offer this past week. 

Yesterday was apartment hunting and today I am packing up my bedroom at my parent's house!!! I am moving in NEXT WEEK!

I am in love with the position and the place and I can't wait to begin work in TWO WEEKS! WHAT???

Ok, I am sorry for all the capital letters but I can't tell you how excited I am for this position. It has been an interesting summer struggling with family loss and working in a retail job that while ok I knew was a job not a career, but I can only count my blessings and thank God!

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This summer was filled wit lots of job applications, cover letters and even a few interviews but it wasn't in God's hands but I have learned that God's timing is perfect and I was glad to be home with my family through August with the loss of my grandparents and now I am really ready to begin a great career. 

This English major is EMPLOYED (trust me, if you are an English major you will find something!)

I won't give you all the details about my position yet (SAFETY REASONS) but I am working in the field of administration within a university.

Now back to packing my life into boxes. AND CONGRATS TO UNC ON THAT TAR HEEL VICTORY vs. NCSU!

Book Club Friday...

Hey y'all,

Some exciting news arrived Wednesday morning and I can't wait to share more with you but it might take a few days until all the details are worked out so in the mean time, lets delve into what I have been reading lately and the few books that are next on my list to read. I haven't read a lot recently so please excuse this bookworm.

The Chronicles of Nick Series. If you read the Sherrilyn Kenyon novels of the Dark Hunter series, this is a teen spin off that focuses on the character of Nick Gautier. Sherrilyn has stated that this series in its conception will eventually link back up with the Dark Hunter series, so of course I had to start this and learn about Nick's past.

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Infinity.
The first book in the Chronicles of Nick is described according to GoodReads as "At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he's next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn't hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?"
It is interesting to see Nick meet Acheron and Kyrian from the Dark Hunter series as a young child and learn about his past and some of his own personal struggles. Nick while a character that appears in most of the Dark Hunter novels and has a story has yet to have a lot of light shone on him as Acheron did in his own novel. It is very enlightening and has you wanting to know more about the Malachai and the darkness that surrounds the young Nick.

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Invincible.
The second book "Nick Gautier’s day just keeps getting better and better. Yeah, he survived the zombie attacks, only to wake up and find himself enslaved to a world of shapeshifters and demons out to claim his soul.

His new principal thinks he’s even more of a hoodlum than the last one, his coach is trying to recruit him to things he can’t even mention and the girl he’s not seeing, but is, has secrets that terrify him.
                                    
But more than that, he’s being groomed by the darkest of powers and if he doesn’t learn how to raise the dead by the end of the week, he will become one of them..."
The second book in the series continues right after the first one and continues to elaborate on the relationships of the young Nick with Grim(yes, as in Death) as his personal tutor of the forces of evil and learning the price individuals will go in order to gain fame and immortality. 

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Infamous (currently reading...well, almost done)
The third book in the series: "Go to school. Get good grades. Stay out of trouble. That’s the mandate for most kids. But Nick Gautier isn’t the average teenager. He’s a boy with a destiny not even he fully understands. And his first mandate is to stay alive while everyone, even his own father, tries to kill him.

He’s learned to annihilate zombies and raise the dead, divination and clairvoyance, so why is learning to drive and keep a girlfriend so dang hard? But that isn’t the primary skill he has to master. Survival is.

And in order to survive, his next lesson makes all the others pale in comparison. He is on the brink of becoming either the greatest hero mankind has ever known, or he’ll be the one who ends the world. With enemies new and old gathering forces, he will have to call on every part of himself to fight or he’ll lose everyone he cares about. Even himself."
Beginning 6 months after the second book, this book has a lot of unexpected twists. I still have about 150pgs left as I type this and I have been shocked multiple times. The beginning arrives with the revelation of Ambrose's true identity and the secrets continue to unravel as Nick tries to balance a life in high school, working for the Dark Hunters, finding a bully, and discovering more about his powers, his family and the job of the Malachai. 

The fourth book, Inferno comes out in March.

now here are some reads that are next on my list:

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What are you currently reading? Link up with Heather here.

Fall Accessory Swap...

Hey y'all,

I know it has been two weeks but between preparing for the interview, the interview, stressing about hearing back, finding cute ideas for big/little for my only active grand-little(my first little and her little have both suspended their membership this semester) I have just not really felt like myself. Truly. It might have been the nude nail polish, but I haven't been feeling like much of anything(including reading)and therefore I have not been blogging so I hope you understand. I am still waiting to hear back about my interview but I have a phone interview this week as well, so here is to possibilities!

A few days after my trip to Chapel Hill to celebrate both of my Little's 22nd birthdays (they are within a month of each other) and my baby sister's 20th birthday I was excited to find my swap gift from the "Fall into Fall" Fall Accessories Swap. Due to swap partner problems, my swap was a bit delayed but I was paired last minute with Aimee of Aimee's World. I just want to say that I was so blessed with my gifts and truly love everything. 

Aimee got me this gorgeous scarf and three mini candles from Bath and Body Works! I am a really picky scent person (I think it has to do with my heightened sense of smell) but I really don't like super spice scents which I know is always in for fall but I love the ones Aimee choose for me. 

It is definitely not something I would have chose on my own but I love it and have paired it with jeans and a white shirt when I saw Pitch Perfect with my baby sister. It is gorgeous. 

Look at the cute box that held my candles.

 I am in love with this stationery. 

 I LOVE this candle. It is almost gone. Go get Cranberry Woods!

 Cinnamon Nut Bread. Probably my least favorite scent of the three.

 Plum Wine Amber. 

I am excited to start using this candle. I love fall scents for candles.

Aimee also sent this mini candle sleeve so my mini candles look gorgeous!

THANKS AGAIN Aimee!

Nerves and Updates

 Hey y'all,

So I have been gone this past week, between a weekend away from home, working, job applications and some exciting news I have been a little distracted. But here are a few pictures from my weekend in Chapel Hill.

Upon arriving in Chapel Hill I spotted my grandlittle, kBm walking and drove her to the PBX house where they were having dinner and I was ambushed by some of my sweet sisters. After hanging out with sisters in the house I met up with my Little for dinner after her volunteering. We went to Tomato Jakes followed by Yopo (The Yogurt Pump)...yum!

The adorable sign on my Little kBb's board.

We spent the night in since she had some homework and RA duties to do while I watched the premiere of SCANDAL! Is anyone else obsessed with that show? I am not a big fan of politics but the show is amazing!

Friday I woke up to move my car (the woe of campus parking) and then went back to bed for a bit. The afternoon I had lunch with one of my best friends, former roomie, and PBX sister jCm. We ran some errands such as going to Homegoods, Michael's and Target where we mainly were on the search for adorable things for Big/Little week since jCm will be a grand-Big and I am becoming a great-grand-Big!

We got back to campus and had a nice time walking around including spotting two chipmunks (unheard of since UNC is dominated by the squirrels) and some of the cows currently on campus which you can read about here.

Look what we stumbled across when exploring campus Friday!

Bowtie and Argyle=perfection.

This was my one bum outfit all weekend so excuse my state of dress.

jCm

After hanging out around campus, jCM, myself and my little kBb all went to Buns for some yummy hamburgers before kBb had to go to Duke's campus for a special credit movie/lecture thing so jCm and I went back to her apartment in a monsoon as CH is known for to watch some Say Yes to the Dress and then I went back to kBb's room to get ready to go out to Topo.

A jazz themed cow outside of Memorial Hall

Top of the Hill was a lot of fun and although my little had a headache so we left early (and didn't take a single picture together) I was excited to see some of my sorority sisters including a few celebrating their 21st birthdays!

Former suitemate, mKh and I out at Topo.

Spotted KC out with mKh

 Saturday morning I got up early to drive to Raleigh to see my baby sister, kDi. Her birthday was Sunday but I unfortunately had to be back home that night to work so we got together Saturday for lunch and cuddling while watching Criminal Minds. It was a horrible day with the weather making it cold and rainy most of the day. 

kDi in her apartment with the flowers she got  when AW asked her to his fraternity formal in Charleston later this month. And yes I am jealous since I have never been to Charleston or a fraternity formal. But AW is a brother to my other little, mGk's boyfriend so she will have someone to talk to.

Yep, she'll hate me for this photo but what are big sisters for.

 After hanging out with the baby sis I visited one of my best friends and sorority sisters RM who is currently in Raleigh working on her masters. It was great to catch up and see her since she is so sweet and understanding and our late night boy sessions are some of the reasons for our close bond. 

I drove back to Chapel Hill in the pouring rain and was trapped in my car at the house's parking for a little while since I did not have an umbrella but luckily one of the sisters in the house rescued me by letting me borrow an umbrella. I then walked with my glittle, kBm to family dinner with her big mGk since the rest of the fam (little kBb was working and glittle sGc was out of town). It was great to catch up with my other little and I gave her her present for her 22nd birthday! I also gave gifts to kBm for the future gglittle.

Little kBb's gift I gave her earlier on Friday night. It's a map I modge-podged on canvas and then wrote "not all who wander are lost." and "the world is your oyster." It was the perfect addition to her room since she has been complaining about her white walls and as a global studies major who studied abroad for a year it made perfect sense.

 Little mGk's gift was a pashmina with an anchor and her monogram. I of course forgot to take a picture of it and she has yet to post one on Fb. so here is the image from the etsy site I ordered from.

Order it here.

 I loved showering my family with gifts and spent Saturday night in while my little was out and about due to an evil headache and the news that I would have to be up around 8:45am in  order to drive home and get ready for work. boo. But breakfast with my little Sunday morning was the perfect farewell.

After that great weekend I have since had a lot of surprises and some great news. I received a swap package, my October Julep Maven box and the biggest news of all.....A JOB INTERVIEW!!!!

Not a phone interview but a live, in person interview TOMORROW! I received the call on Monday and was unfortunately detained so trying to return the voice-mail took a bit, I thought I had merely received a phone interview but it was an in person interview and between the time of Wednesday and Friday the only time that fit my schedule was tomorrow at 10:30am so please keep me in your thoughts and wish me luck. This position is for a company I adore and I am really interested in the position. While I know no job is perfect I hope the third time is the charm since after two phone interviews this summer I would love to begin a career at this location and really make an impact. Sorry for the vagueness, I have been pretty nervous since I scheduled my interview but after hours of prep it is time to leave everything up to God's plans.