As We Go On

May is time for graduation and even though I won't graduate until next year, because I am taking my prerequisites for medical school, three of my roomies are!  May 12th came and they donned their caps and gowns.  Dave squeezed us all into his truck, and we listened to "Graduation" by Vitamin C on our way to the Ferrel Center.

Of course we had to take pictures!  Then it was time for the ceremony.  I am not going to lie, the ceremony was LONG (3 hours) and that was only for some of the schools and it was cold, and I was hungry, but it was worth every minute of it to hear Bekah and Emily and Peyton's names read.  Love y'all.

Emily with her younger brother, Bryce, and her grandparents.
 

 Theta Sisters
 

That night I had the graduation party for my Kappa pledge class at Ninfa's restaurant.  It was a nice dinner and a fun time visiting with everyone and reminiscing about our memories from the last four years!  We even had a great slideshow. It was funny to see how much we had all changed!  My college experience would not have been nearly as great without being a part of Kappa Kappa Gamma with all these great girls!

Typical... nearly impossible to get us all looking at the camera, because someone is always

laughing or talking, but it still makes for a great pic!

 

Laura and I met during rush, and I remember hoping that she would go Kappa with me.  :)

 

Mary, our awesome president!

 

Kristen and I always had a great time in our BEST business class...

even if we were occasionally looking at Pinterest.

 

A few days earlier, Tommye Lou, the best advisor ever and one of the most gracious women I know, had us all over to her house for dinner.  Everyone in Kappa adores her!

Shower Time

Well, as you know, my roomie, Emily, got engaged in January.  With the end of the school year fast approaching and everyone about to spread in every direction, we wanted to have a lingerie shower for her while everyone was still around.  Her maid of honor, Emily, and soon to be matron of honor, Lisa, were the gracious hosts and did a wonderful job.

Emily with her maids of honor, Emily and Lisa

The theme was vintage, of course; we girls are super into the Anthro, shabby chic thing.  Emily's backyard was perfect for the occasion.  We brought out a coffee table and spread blankets around it for a picnic.  Twine was strung around the yard, and we clipped pictures of Dave and Em to it with clothes pins.  Of course, we had to have plenty of candies, Em's favorite.

For our brunch we had all kinds of goodies... cinnamon rolls, egg casserole, mimosas, fruit salad, and more!  Em's mom came down from Dallas for the special occasion too!

After brunch, it was time for Em to open all of her presents.  Along with opening gifts, we played a little game.  Emily and Lisa had asked Dave questions like what was the best gift Emily ever gave him or what was his favorite outfit that she has ever worn or what was he was most looking forward to about being married.  These questions and his answers were written on little scraps of paper that we all drew from a jar.  When Emily opened our present, we would ask her the question and if she didn't guess Dave's answer right, then we would get to make her do something.  For example, when Em didn't guess what Dave's favorite meal she made him was (it was pasta, he thought it was homemade, but it really was Bertolli's from a bag), she had to call him and admit that it was from a frozen bag... it didn't matter to him though!  Another dare was to quickly "chug" some pixie sticks.... Lisa's payback from when Em made her chug tons of pixies at her shower.

Everyone had such a wonderful time.  I love some of the candid shots that were captured, because they show how much fun everyone had celebrating Em!

  

And on top of the cute candid shots, there were lots of great "posed" shots that I just had to include too!

 The Roomies

 Em with the Phossil girls (that is the name of their house)...

note the awesome pic of Dave and Em in the background.

 Em's Pi Phi Family

The Engaged Girls + Married Woman Showing Off Their Bling

Lisa - Em - Susan - Mrs. Young

Well, I wish I could show you the cute pics of Em's lingerie, but that is not for you to see, so I will show you a pic of the boxes and then a pic of our cute faces and the bride to be on Oct. 13, 2012.

The Mrs. Kinney To Be!!!

Outdoor Waco

Over the spring semester, I had the opportunity to help open a new outdoor adventure store in Waco, called Outdoor Waco.  It was pretty neat to see the evolution of the shop from just an idea in the minds of several entrepreneurs to a popular shop in just a few months.  In January, my entrepreneurial finance teacher connected me with Ryan who had the idea for the shop.  Along with Ryan, his visionary friend, Mark, and future store manager, Trinity, the brainstorming began.  Jessie and Kyle soon joined our team and everything started falling into place.

Kyle - Trinity - Jessie

The goal of the shop was to provide both the community of Waco and Baylor students a place to gather, take advantage of the outdoor resources, and buy neat gear.  I was in charge of social media and marketing; especially helping to spread the word to Baylor students.  From setting up a website, Facebook, and Twitter to getting out press releases to local newspapers and radio stations to coming up with fun contests, they kept me pretty busy.  I also got to help with the design of the store and correspondence with the city.

 Starting Out...

In just three months, we were able to turn an idea into opening day.  It was crazy starting off, but everyone loved the place.  The earthy style made it a friendly environment and the coffee shop with its special bubble tea quickly became a new study space for students.

 Getting Closer...

I am honored to be a part of starting such an awesome store.  Now, will I start my own store some day, probably not, but it was an experience most people never get the chance to have.  If you get a chance, check out their website.

Outdoor Waco: Bike - Hike - Paddle - Coffee Shop