SAB Fit Club

To promote healthy living, SAB hosted SAB Fit Club this past semester. Dr. Ian Smith from VH1's Celebrity Fit Club was our guest speaker. He gave a motivating talk to students and faculty about making better decisions regarding our health. After his speech he signed autographs for students and students were able to rotate around to different stations that were set up all around the room. Local businesses including: Curtis Chiropractic and Wellness, Chickfila, Arkansas College of Massage Therapy, GNC, Sodexo, ASU Counseling Services, and the Red W.O.L.F Center. SAB also gave away prizes including free massages, 3 months free Fitness Bootcamp, and giftcards to many local businesses. Over 250 people attended this event and the program was so successful that other schools have used our event as a model for theirs.

SAB Casino Night

Casino Night was hosted this year by SAB on November 17th. 4 Black Jack, 7 Holdem, 2 Roulette, 2 Large Craps tables, and 6 Slot Machines were all included in the program. Students were able to come and eat and play the games for FREE, and were awarded prizes for their wins. Prizes included: ASU poker chips, light up Redwolves dice, Casino Night t-shirts and ASU playing card stress reducer. Over 200 people came out to play and the event received great feedback.

Cocoa and Carols

On December 2nd SAB hosted the first annual Cocoa and Carols event. Students were able to come and listen to Christmas music, have a horse drawn carriage ride, and drink hot chocolate...all for FREE! Around 125 people came out for this event, and it was a sure success. Fraternities decorated their houses, and Pi Kappa Alpha won the decorating contest. Pike was awarded $100 from SAB to go towards their philanthropy of choice. Look for this event again next December with new and improved ideas for it!

Books I read last Week

These are the two books I read this week. They are on the complete opposite spectrums of eachother, although both had good insight I think. The first book was recommended to me by a friend who after reading it finally decided to get out a relationship that wasnt the best for her. This book helps girls understand more of what is really going on inside a guys head. Id recommend it to most girls in the south...Since it seems like the norm for girls in the south to think that they have to be married by 22 giving up their careers and having babies. Redeeming Love is a book Ive been told to read for years. It is a slow start and seems like maybe it could be a 100 pages shorter, but I really enjoyed the book. The title kinda speaks for itself. This book is a perfect picture of the love of Christ. This book is a spin off the book of Hosea, which I plan to read later this week. It is a perfect reminder God can capture and change the hearts of anyone...even a prostitute.

One of the funniest books ive ever read.

More to come with this...love this book.

Even Now

This is the book I just finished this afternoon. Megan got it for me for my birthday. Its one of Karen Kingsburys. She is my favorite author by far. This one is a little far fetched with the story line, but was a page turner for sure. Its a story about loving, losing, forgiveness, and true peace. It also teaches about something I feel strongly about, which is the importance of respecting others beliefs even though they are different from yours. Sometimes true love and friendship happens when you agree to disagree.

I cant wait to read the sequal to this one. Ever After.

Europe Favorites Summary

Lots of people ask me what my favorite were about Europe...So I decided to write them all out.

Favorite Cities - Prague, Munich, Vienna, and London

Least Favorite City - Brussels, Belgium

Favorite Food - Belgium Waffles, Apfel Strudle and Kasewurst (Austria), Gelato and pasta (Italy).

Favorite Gelato (Yes it needs its own category) - Straciatella

Worst Food - London

Places I will go on my next trip - Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Stockholm

Favorite Memories - Being in Prague when they beat Russia in the World Hockey Championship game. Going ice skating in Vienna. Seeing the Wiklow Mountains in Ireland, hanging out on the steps in Venice on Easter, and watching world cup games riverside in Vienna.

Worst Memories - Biking trip around the lake, having to go to the hospital, and MBA case study class.

Favorite Art - Sistine Chapel ( Vatican City), Statue of David (Florence)

Favorite Church - Westminister Abbey (London)

Favorite Tourist Attractions - Eiffel Tower (Paris), Fountain di Trevi and Colosseum in Rome.

Most Overrated Tourist Attraction - Changing of guards Buckinham Palace (London)

Best Shopping - Munich

Best Views- Lake District (Austria) and Wiklow Mountains (Ireland)

Favorite Palace - Versailles (Paris)

Favorite Museum - Orsay (Paris)

Best Tour Company - New Europe Free Walking Tours

Best Hostel- Hostel Ruthensteiner (Vienna)

Worst Hostel - Hostel Astor (London)

Favorite Culture - Bovarian (Southern Germany) and Irish

Most Expensive - London

What I missed most from home besides friends and family - Dr Pepper, Sweet Tea, good salads, customer service.

What I will miss most from Europe - my friends, public transportation, openminded people, and speaking german.

I guess this list doesnt cover it all, but at least hits the main things :)

The City that never Sleeps.

All of these pics are from my NYC trip. 12 days in New York is a lil too much for me. Im too much of a southern girl for this city. The top pic is from Dylan's Candy Shop. 3 floors of chocolate and candy. This store could have been dangerous if I would have had money to throw around. The 2nd picture is of Little Italy. One of my favorite NYC areas. We had one of our best meals in that neighborhood. The next pic is my brother Kyle and his friend Sam in Times Square. I like this picture because it reminds me of that scary movie with the twins standing in the hall way. The 4th picture is from the day we went and had a picnic in Central Park, which is another really cool part of NYC. So much talent lingering around in that park just waiting to be found. Pic 5 is me, mom, and Kelc at the Love statue off of Times Square. This is right by the MOMA if you are in NYC and looking for it. Pic 6,7, and 8 is from the 4th of July. We went out to governors island to watch She and Him play a free show. We had fun, but it was so so so hot. Zoey is as cute as can be though. They played a good show. Picture 9 is in Times Square in front of the biggest Forever 21 Ive ever seen. 5 floors of goodness. The next pic is of me and Meg on the Brookland pier. Its only a 5 minute walk once you cross the Brooklyn bridge and is worth the look. The last 3 pics are from the Staton Island ferry. This was neat bc its free, and takes you right by the statue of liberty.

By the time we left the city I was ready to go since I had been living out of a suitcase for almost a month. It was hard to leave Kelc there, but she will be home in like 14 days!! My advice to anyone is to stay in the city if you go to NYC. Dont try to travel from Jersey. The van rides, and the transit back at night is not that friendly. And a cab will cost ya 60 bucks.

Supporting the Arts

These pics are from the MOMA museum in NYC, and from Westside Story. The museum was good, but I've seen so many good ones in Europe this one was nothing too special. The top 4 pics are from the museum. If you go on Fridays from 4-8 its free. There is a long line, but it moves really fast. On Saturday, our last day in the city, we went to see Westside Story. We wanted to see Memphis, but right as we were trying to pay, it sold out. So..maybe next time. Westside Story was good, but a lil tragic. I think I would have liked something maybe a lil more light hearted and all in english, my spanish is awful. Or the Lion King. But..tickets for it were out of this world expensive. This was my first broadway show experience, so anything probably would have made me happy. My advice for getting cheap tickets is...dont stand in the long line on times square..go right to the box office of the show you want to see. They should have cheap balcony seats :) No seat is a bad seat in those theaters in my opinion.

Mein Geburtstag

So I was blessed to spend my 24th birthday in lovely Vienna. The top 4 pics are from my party at 1516 we had. The top 3 photos are me with my Austrian friends. They are all so lovely and will be missed tons. They definitely made my birthday a wonderful one. The 4th pic is of one of my canadian friends. I met so many cool Canadians on my travels. Im definitely going to venture there someday. And the last two pics are saying goodbye to Wiener Neustadt. The 5th pic is our whole group..with a couple of random people that must have jumped in.This was from our going away ice cream party we had..and the last pic is of me in front of the school.

waffles, bagpipes, and lucky charms

These pics are from my last big trip in Europe. I went to Belgium, Scotland, and Ireland from June 20th-28th with my roomie, Sally. The bottom two pics are from Bruges, Belgium. If you are wandering if the waffles and chocolate are as good as people say they are...they are better. We spent two nights in this cute lil town. We didnt do much touristy except go to the chocolate museum. They actually had a life sized chocolate statue of Obama..so I had to go see that. Other than that, this town reminds me of a lil Venice with all of the canals. Really cute and relaxing. We also spent half a day in Brussels. This town is not worth seeing in my opinion. Next, we flew to Edinburgh, Scotland. Picture 4 is of me on the beach, 5 is of the skyline, and 6 is the castle there. This is also a cute lil town. Im not gunna lie, it felt really good to be back in an English speaking country. We spent 3 nights and 2 full days in Edinburgh. We did the New Europe walking tour, which is always good, watched some world cup games, and just walked around the city. What I liked most about Scotland was that it didnt get dark until 11pm. Lastly, we went to Ireland. This is a place I will for sure go back again. One, I love the irish, two, I love their music, and three, the country side is A-mazing. We stayed in Dublin, but those top 3 pics are of the country side in the Wiklow Mountains area. I took a day trip there, only 24 euro, and worth every penny. The 3rd pic is of the Guiness Lake, and the 2nd pic is the bridge from PS I love you. We also saw where scenes from Braveheart were filmed as well. Lucky for us, it was our hostels 25th bday when we were there. So we got to enjoy live music, from an amazing irish band i might add, and good bbq. Our sweet irish friends, Miriam and Sam, also came to see us while we were there. Well..that pretty much sums up that trip. I plan to definitely go back to the Irish country side one day.

Today's Playlist

I should be studying. Instead...I am blogging about the music I am listening to. Here is todays top 10 in no order.

1. The Luckiest..Ben Folds

2. Where were you...Ed Cash

3. I never told you...Colbie Caillat

4. You Won't Relent...Jesus Culture

5. Lazy..Toby Lightman

6. Give me one Reason..Tracy Chapman

7. I and Love and You..The Avett Brothers

8. All I Really Want...Alanis

9. Me and Mr. Jones....Amy Winehouse

10. Shelter...Ray L.

Prague -Na zdraví

So I would definitely say that Prague makes my top 3 fav cities in Europe list. Amanda, Ashley, and I went by bus from Vienna last weekend and we were so lucky to actually have good weather while we were there. The bus only cost 27 euro there and back, which is super cheap to go to Prague. Once we arrived Chas, Nik, Greg, Fred, and Megan met up with us! And we just happened to be there on the weekend on the world hockey championship game which Czech was playing in against Russia, whom they despise. So..we got to see a lil bit of history made when Czech beat Russia in the game. The top 2 pictures are from the night. We watched the game in the square with all of the locals and celebrated the win with them afterwards. They marched all over the city singing and chanting..i guess it would be the equivalent of the cardinals beating the yankees in the world series and being there to see it...was really cool. Na zdravi..meaning cheers..was a good word to know for the night. The second day we were there we ended up on a really good tour. Learned alot about Prague and how they liberated themselves from the Germans with pots and pans basically during WW2, but Russia took the claim for it, which caused them to be under Stalin and communism until 89. Guess they have a reason to hate Russia so much. Anyways...got to see alot of cool architecture like the 3rd pic, its cubist, and Prague is the only place in the world to see such. Also walked around the Jewish territory, which still has 6 synagogues. Hitler left this territory not destroyed because he planned to make it monument one day to show all the people of the race that he completely wiped away. We all know he failed. Thankfully. We also saw the outside of the biggest medieval castle in the world, picture 4..and learned that the movie EuroTrip was filmed in Prague. Each night we ended with the British. By the end we had made friends with the musician, and he knew when I came in I wanted to hear Sweet Home Alabama and Sweet Caroline :) Anyone who hasnt been to Prague..should definitely go!