Welcome to AOII, Beta Zeta!!

This weekend we Installed our newly Colonized Chapter-- Beta Zeta at Kennesaw State University!

There were 99 ladies installed as a chapter, 97 initiated and 2 transfers, and it was a looooong and rewarding and exciting day! I have a few pictures here, but thanks to my budget on IC (Installation Committee) I got to pass off the photography duties to Caq!

Chandeliers in the Grand Ballroom

Kay tying bows around centerpieces

almost 100 roses!

A rose ever blooming will grow through the years

Roll Book

Charter!!

Charter with rose

Gift from Headqarters

Head table

SHOPPING! (too bad I was broke...)

Kay, Sherry, and Janet shopping the Emporium

Teri and Stacey

Jenny's on the right, she organized the whole thing!

Jenna and Stacey from HQ, this is their thing

Stacey and I-- we know all the same people!

Jenny checking people in

Barb Zipperian (IP), Brandi Nunnery (CDNS), and Aimee Meyers (CDND)

Lanterns inside the hotel

Me and Brandi-- she was my CNS in college!

I love AOII so much and am thankful every day that it's part of my life-- we have so many wonderful women and I'm so honored to have them all as sisters.

Garden- Week One

Jeremy and I started a little potted garden a couple of weeks ago and I've decided to take weekly progress pictures-- while a week may not seem like a lot of time, these plants sure seem like they're ready to take off! Here are the ones from the first week, I'll take the second week's pictures tomorrow when I get home and post them shortly afterwards.

Our sad excuse for an herb garden-- nobody has any herbs!

Lemongrass for curries and chicken soups

Impatiens to add a little color

The leaning tower of cilantro

The whole gamut

These guys are from the same pot as the failed jalapeno from last year-- there are living plants in it! Two out of three remain as of now.

Golden bell peppers-- AWESOME for curries and stir fry!

Red and yellow currants-- I'm going to train them up the posts on the porch

Purple Tomatillos-- for making salsa purpurpla (as opposed to salsa verde)

Cayenne pepper! First flower to bloom!

Poblano pepper-- can't wait to roast some on the grill!

A giant green bell pepper hybrid-- the flower looks like it will be huge, so we'll see if I have to cage it or not

These are all seeded-- mostly with hot peppers, some green beans, cucumbers, basil, that sort of thing. I can't remember which has which, though, so we'll just have to see when they grow in...

Cornish Game Hen!

My most recent cooking experience was with a Cornish Game Hen and it turned out pretty awesome! Jeremy got me a graniteware roaster (my favorite), so I lined the bottom of it with sliced Russet potatoes and placed the hen on top for roasting. Before putting it in the oven, I pan seared it in a crapton of butter (yes, that's a specific cooking measurement in the Paula Deen school of cooking lol) with rosemary and garlic, then I placed it on top of the potatoes and drizzled the pan drippings over the potatoes. An hour later, voila-- the perfect serving for two people and a little left over for lunch!

Apartment!

I know I've let you guys down, I did a post a day for like a week and then NOTHING!

Well, for those of you who haven't been on Facebook, here are some pictures of our new apartment... just don't say anything about how they're all in the kitchen-- it's the only fully furnished room in the whole place!

The signatures from the wedding with Lauren's rendition of bride and groom remaining!

We know, it sticks out from the electrical box a bit, but we couldn't think of anything else we wanted to see every day more than our friends and family!

General stuff-- we put the junk food at the top to discourage ourselves/at least make us go up and down the step stool to get at it.

Canned goods, etc-- we have a pasta and rice cabinet! WHOO!

Dinnerware and an entire sushi related shelf! Oh, and GS Cookies, but there aren't many of those left... que triste!

STORAGE! Top-- silverware, kitchen gadets

Middle, Salad spinner, toaster, rice cooker, pitchers

Bottom-- Stuff for entertaining/nice stuff

Our China in its spiffy storage cases (we have so little that it all tucks in to the biggest one!) and a string of lights we're hoping to put on the porch. The nice stainless is in here, too, until we get a container for it to properly sit in.

All of our GLASSWARE! The water goblets from Nikki, the wine glasses from the Shannahans, and the cobalt glasses from Jonathan. There's also the nice set of champagne flutes from Ashley Barnish, and the sign from Kim and Nick-- "love is patient, love is kind" which was the reading at both of our weddings.

Baking stuff to the left, cooking to the right. Stainless steel mixing bowls from Susie and Richie, Pyrex storage set from AJ, Jeremy's stand mixer, my breakfast pitcher, our nice knife set from Adam and Erin, and all our spices, etc. from YDFM!

This is the worst stove we will ever have. There's not even a window on the door! At least we have some good cookware from Aunt Linda and Uncle Rube!

Storage underneath for baking stuff on the left (we will never run out of cake pans-- seven layer cake anyone? Let's not even get started on the cupcakes!) and cooking stuff on the left.

the fruit basket left by the last tenants

Erin go Bragh!

Atlanta has the fourth largest Irish population in the United States! Erin go Bragh! We went down with Michael and the kids for a day of fun, and even a little Irish weather when the skies decided to drop some cold rain on us. Saw a few people I know, and a lot of funny stuff in the parade. Who knew that Scions were such a BFD?

Seed'n'Feed aka The Marching Abominable

Ramblin' Wreck 2

Wells Fargo Coach and Horses

And their poop guy

Why doesn't FedEx have one, Marc?

Sequay cops!

These guys...

Did not have a poop guy

Vivi fell asleep in the middle of a parade!

Blues Brothers!

This is NOT a skirt!

These are not the Celts you're looking for

The whole Empire showed out!

These are mostly for Josh and Jan

The Go Kart guys were awesome-- they kept buzzing the little kids and giving them high fives!

Pipers avoiding Poop

Airport Fire Engine!

Don't know how they got it out for the day, but it was cool to see one up close again!

Even the Sherrif got in on the fun

FIERO! Seriously.

"Bono" even made an appearance

and the Trekkies, of course, wrapped it up for us