Stick A Fork In Me...

Stick a fork in me, I'm done! Done with college that is. I can't even begin to describe what I'm feeling now that this part of my life is over. One day I'll be so thankful and happy to never have to pull all-nighters writing papers that I procrastinated on or cramming for final exams again. Then the next day I'll be a complete emotional wreck and have a cry session in my car while listening to songs like The House That Built Me, or American Honey. The line from American Honey that says "couldn't wait to get goin, but wasn't quite ready to leave" is the epitome of my emotions right now. I'm so excited to move on to lifes next big adventure that is in store, but the process of actually getting from here to there is going to be more difficult than I anticipated. However, in the mean time, I'm going to focus on the now, and have a rockin incredible summer spent with some awesome girls and guys at Topeka Bible Church! Bring it on!

This post is dedicated to my student life throughout KU. Through pictures. Many pictures. Get excited! I can't imagine spending my college career anywhere other than Lawrence, KS and representing my crimson and blue Jayhawks! It seems seriously just like yesterday I was driving up with my dad in August 2006 to move into my freshman dorm room (crying the whole way...I don't handle change well)

My little corner of my room in Corbin. Although the dorm life was fun while it lasted, I'm SO glad to have had my own room and bathroom during the rest of college.

I decided to go through recruitment freshman year since I knew many other girls from high school who were rushing too, and both my older sisters were in sororities and loved them. To be honest, I kind of felt obligated to join one at first. Then about a month after joining, I considered dropping, but decided to stick it out. And although I did ultimately drop the sorority my senior year, I'm so incredibly thankful to have joined one and had 3 great years with it. It helped me take my academics more seriously, I met some amazing women, and it helped me feel like a part of a family on such a huge campus.

Bid day 2006! Alpha Gamma Delta it is!

Blood sisters, and now sorority sisters!

At serenades sophomore year with some ladies of my pledge class. Serenades are quite possibly the most awkward, hilarious, and memorable moments a freshman sorority girl will experience.

Ohhh the glorious, never-ending days of being on the other end of recruitment! and singing porch songs over, and over, annnnd over, annnnnd over again!

All that hard work + no sleep pays off come bid day. Celebrate!

I'm sure it doesn't surprise yall that you could always count on me to have the best costumes at sisterhoods.

Rock Chalk Revue 2007! Definitely one of my favorite sorority, and just in general, college memories. Phantom of the Library = best show ever. Katie was a cool kid, I was a nerd...not much acting had to take place here : )

I still sing our lyrics from the show when I hear the original songs like This Is Halloween, and Eye To Eye

And of course, one of the best things about being a student at KU is cheering on our boys in basketball! It was a blast to have been a student in 2008 when we kicked Memphis' bootay and became NCAA CHAMPIONS! (thank you Mario Chalmers!)

Best part? Class being canceled the next day to welcome back the team!

 During college I met some of my favorites who became my roomies, and closest friends.

Shawn, pretty much my other half.

Special shout out to Lauren, Shawn, and Laura! I love you ladies, long live #123!

Ugh, why do you 2 have to live in Texas now? Well, don't worry...I'll be there soon enough!

I also changed my major at least 5 times that ranged from nursing, to undecided, to elementary ed, to music therapy, back to elemtnary ed, then I stumbled upon social welfare...

and I was accepted into KU's school of Social Welfare! Watch out world...Tori, future social worker at hand! (that is...if my whole dream as a baker doesn't pan out)

I had some amazing times with the BFF, including our annual plaza dates during Christmastime!

Me and Alysia have been through thick-n-thin, and I don't know where or who I'd be without her. Loves you oodles Kinger!

I visited some amazing places both on my own and with my family.

Including Alaska on an alaskan cruise

Thats where the moose are!

And one of my fav memories, white water rafting in freezing rain. However, our tour guide, Phil, was awesome. Think Philip Seymour Hoffman, and that was what phil was like.

I visited North Carolina to see my good kamp friend, miss Amanda

We had some fun hiking on the mountains

Ugh, I fell in love with NC. B-e-a-utiful.

Whyyyy are KS and NC so far apart?

I spent 2 Christmases in Florida. Where for one we got marshmallow guns...that means war.

My amazing family!

I tagged along with TBC to join them on their trip to Lost Valley in Colorado

And I went down to Dallas for a spring break, and we got to go to Six Flags. "Do you guys know about your cat problem outside?..."

I got to see a few more musicals including Avenue Q for the 1st time, and both Hairspray and Wicked for a second time...



And my new favorite, Spring Awakening!

 I was lucky enough to have been a part of my 2 older sister's weddings

My sister Jenny's wedding

The happy couple

Katie's wedding

One of my personal favs of me and my sisters : ) oh how I love them.

I was also lucky enough to attend 2 other weddings including that of my good kamp friend Deanna

and my older cousin Sam's wedding

And I was blessed to spent 3 amazing, unforgettable summers working at Kanakuk Kamps in Branson, MO (helloooo las vegas for the elderly!)

We may be rivals, but we're still friends : )

At kamp I met some of the most awesome people ever that I still keep in contact with

And cabin 4, you girls hold a special place in my heart!

Peace. Love. Scraper.

And I spent last summer with the youth group of TBC alongside some of my favorites

And I'll be returning in just a week to do it allllll over again!

And I finished off celebrating the end of college with a trip to Disneyland! With a fun travel buddy : )

And a graduation party with a fellow intern and friend, Karly (congrats to you too dear friend!)

Told you that was a lot of pictures! But I still feel like I didn't even cover 1/4 of my college life here. Some other undocumented photo memories of college include:

*Writing a paper analyzing the lyrics to Colors of the Wind (got an A, and this was the only paper I didn't mind writing)

*Giving a speech in Coms about the movie Enchanted

*Watching Disney movies with Shawn

....Hmmmm, maybe I should take these things into consideration annnnnnnd....

become a baker at Disney! Can you say best job ever??!

Well, to finish up, thank you KU for all the wonderful memories! I have grown so much in these past 4 (plus 1) years of college mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I struggled with academics, losing friends, body and self image, my faith, and confidence in the person I wanted to become. But through all of the hard times, I persevered and am a stronger person and am much more confident in my own skin because of it all. Shout out to all the people who have been a part of my college life, for either a short time or in the long run, you've made an impact on me and I'm so thankful.

Graduation is a mere 4 days away, so theres only one more thing to say...

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!

I'm Not Dead

Helloooooo all! Goodness gracious, its been forever. Since it has been forever since my last post, lets catch up on everything that has happened! So, for my long-distance friends, local amigos, and stalking sisters...here is what you may have missed in the life of Tori...

1) I found this car parked outside my apartment that is definitely NOT in a parking spot. I mean, really? Really? (note the snow on the ground, sick nasty. This was the unexpected snow storm like 2 days after it got up to about 70 outside. Kansas weather, stop being bipolar). This also was not a one time occurance for this car.

2) I gave up facebook for lent (thus why I have not made a post since). I thought giving it up would be especially helpful a few weeks ago when I had a 10ish page paper due; however, I still pulled an all-nighter. But only my second one of the year, now thats improvement since freshman year! 4 weeks away from graduating and now I'm learning better ways. Figures.

3) I saw this license. Can we please be BFFs?? Wellllll, on second thought, maybe just good friends. I think I need my BFF to be a Gryffindor.

4) I visited Memphis, TN for the first time with my sister Katie to see our other sister, Jenny, and her hubby Drew

Gettin some Memphis BBQ. Drew actually told us that this place is always closed on Mondays since its been open, and when Bill Clinton was president, he once came into the restaurant....on a Monday. And they still turned him down and wouldn't open their restaurant! Still not sure if that was good work ethic, or mere stupidity to reject the president...? Hmmmmm...

Our super crafty sister, Jenny taught some church girlies how to make their own skirts. We decided to join in the fun and walked out with a new skirt ourselves! Actually, to tell the truth, I did not walk out with mine...I had to be difficult and diverse from the group and wanted pockets on my skirt. So Jenny had to help me after everyone else was done, then it turned out with my fabric I picked pockets were not flattering. So we had to take them out. Long story short: I got a teeeeensy bit frustrated, and prolly won't be making another skirt for a loooooong while.

Overall, Memphis was awesome, but I think next time I want to visit the heart of country music and head to Nashville. Who's with me??! : )

 5) I watched a lot of KU basketball. Though its still a bit of a sore spot, the boys had a great season! Rock Chalk, baby!

The Jayhawks of the family (and clearly the best choice between a purple horned frog, a razorback, or a bobcat)

 6) I FINALLY finished up my practicum of the year that was needed to graduate! (yes, the same practicum from last semester where I was caught coloring Christmas pictures in some downtime...resulting in a 10 minute cry session in the bathroom. Good job, Tori) And in honor of my last day, I had a little celebratory party where I made a fire and threw in my nametag. As a symbolic gesture of finishing up and moving onto my next life adventure, not for any other reasons...clearly.

7) I ran my first ever 5K! I was a little apprehensive at first, but all & all I'm really glad that I signed up for it! Going into it I had 2 goals for myself...a) Just worry about finishing and have fun. b) don't die.

Not only did I finish, have fun, and not die...I finished 3rd in my division! True, it was only 3.2 miles, but next step...10K! It was easy-peasy to keep up a good pace so early in the morning with my playlist that I premade the night before that looked a little something like this:

·         Raise Your Glass – Pink (awesome song to wake you up with after 5 hours of sleep)

·         Dancing Crazy – Miranda Cosgrove

·         Your Love is My Drug – Ke$ha (my guilty pleasure song)

·         Yeah 3X – Chris Brown (I still think you're a scumbag Chris, curse you for having such a catchy beat)

·         Ever Ever After – Carrie Underwood

·         If My Heart Had Wings – Faith Hill

·         Put You in A Song – Keith Urban

·         I’m Only Me When I’m With You – Taylor Swift

·         Don’t Stop Believing - Glee

I skipped through some of the songs about halfway through, given my music ADD. And I actually wanted to finish the race with Defying Gravity, but I didn't make it that far into my playlist. But turns out that finishing with Glee was just what I needed to finish strong. Then after dinner was I realllllly craving a margarita, however, that was definitely not what my body needed...so I opted for some frozen yogurt. Mmmm!

 Right at the finish line they had endless tons of breakfast food that was up for grabs for runners. So, of course, as a college student I grabbed one, or two, or three of everything to go. Typical. Can I change my major to free-loading? (or maybe coloring, tree climbing, napping, this list could go on a while) And yes, that is also definitely some toilet paper, and no, that was not at the finish line but at the port-o-potties. But I figured, wellllllll, why not? : )

8) My new found love for peanut butter may slowly becoming a slight addiction...

I'm finding any excuse to put it on as much food as I can. Apples, celery, oatmeal, chocolate, ice cream... (Note to self: Stop eating PB with a knife for safety reasons)

Phew, well I think that should catch yall up enough for now. And a countdown looking forward to some events coming near:
*8 days until one group project for class will be complete
*17 days until another group project will be completed/last day of class EVER as an undergraduate!
*26 days until graduation, baby!
*28 days until I'll walk down the hill
*Roughly 4 months until moving to Dallas

I hope you guys have a wonderful, blessed Easter Sunday with your families, friends, and loved ones. Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for me when I'm such a huge sinner and make countless mistakes, but you continue to unconditionally love me and be the Savior I need. He is risen!