No regrets

This past weekend, I was conflicted about what to do. There were multiple events scheduled at the same time, and I could not prioritize which I wanted to attend the most. Between my last semi-formal, a Homecoming reunion, a football game, a concert, a brunch, conference in St. Louis and regular student commitments like homework and sleep, I could not make a decision.

So for those of you that know me, you know that I decided to do it all. And it was not the easy choice, it was the choice where I would have the least amount of regrets.

I started at semi-formal Friday night and went to the Ying Yang Twins concert sponsored by two fraternities immediately after, what a night! Ying Yang Twins were actually very incredible live, or they were lipsyncing really well.

Leah, Megan, Emily, Melanie, Alex, Courtney and I!

The Ying Yang Twins at Whiskey Wild's

Saturday morning, Kathryn and I woke up and walked over to the Alumni Center to go to the brunch for the Chancellor's Excellence Fund! We sang a parody for Chancellor Deaton called "The Brady Bunch," since his name is Brady. It was a big hit, an intimate brunch where everyone even introduced themselves and everything went smoothly.

Mizzou Student Foundation members at the Chancellor's Excellence Brunch

After brunch, I grabbed a bag, picked up Karee and drove to Lake of the Ozarks! A member of Homecoming Steering Committee volunteered his lake house for Homecoming members to hang out and catch up for a weekend retreat. I had never been to the lake before, but it's very comparable to Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. The area and home were beautiful and the weather was nice enough to lounge outside and enjoy each other's company. We went to a restaurant on the water, the popular outlet malls and back to hang at the house! It was a nice little day trip and really makes you feel away from everything for the day.

Homecoming girls! Morgan, Karee, Hannah, Rachel, Hannah, Rebecca and I

...But just for the day. I headed home around 9 p.m. for Phi Mu's initiation sleepover where my daughter and granddaughter Liz and Melissa slept in my bed! We watched SNL and went to bed early- an ideal night.

Liz and Melissa!

Sunday morning, I arose at 6 a.m. to get in the car to drive to St. Louis University for the Relay For Life Eastern Missouri region (EMO) Collegiate Summit! Thankfully, I got to sleep through half of the car ride, but Bret and Charlie (the other Relay co-chairs) had a great time coming up with hilarious ways to wake me up. Blasting loud rap music was the winner. Sessions like this always excite me for our Relay For Life event on March 16 and deliver loads of ideas for fundraising and public relations. I took more notes than I have in awhile and we learned a lot from SLU and WashU's Relay steering committees! Since they were local, 50 of them from each school attended as opposed to the 10 MU students that could make the drive from Columbia. I ran into a friend from middle school who in on the WashU committee though, which was pretty funny! Some things learned:

• Mizzou's Relay will have the president of Relay For Life and a ton of important staff members in attendance! This will be a huge nerve-wracker for myself and the other co-chairs but we hope to put on a great show and experience for everyone! We met a lot of the executive staff who all claim excitement for our event :)
• Relay For Life of Second Life (see my blog post on http://kartemas.wordpress.com/blog from a few weeks ago) was founded the same year as the first Relay For Life of a prison and Relay of a nudist colony! "It was a weird year for Relay..." American Cancer Society employee and Relay youth coordinator Heidi explained. 

Relay Steering Committee members from Mizzou at SLU's Summit Conference

If this wasn't enough, upon arriving back to Columbia from St. Louis, it was time for Phi Mu initiation! Congratulations to Liz and Melissa- my direct family members- and myself and Dani got to initiate them! Below is our PHamily photo of both branches of our pledge family (everyone and their moms and daughters).

My Phi Mu family!

Overall, was it easy to make plans for semi-formal Friday night? No. Coming up with a game plan for the night was incredibly stressful and I had second thoughts about why I hadn't gone to the lake. Was I tired at the Chancellor's brunch? Yes, but it was enjoyable and interesting. Was I fully awake while driving an hour each way to Lake of the Ozarks? Probably not. But I did what I wanted to do and conquered challenges to do so. I saw everyone I was capable of seeing and the tired look I probably exemplify this week will always be overcome by the satisfaction that I don't have to regret not doing any of these things. Everything is not only represented by my friends, but each commitment was related to a campus activity I participate in. Phi Mu, Mizzou Student Foundation, Homecoming Steering Committee, Relay For Life. 

Therefore, when people say "You can't do it all," they are lying. You CAN do it all, as long as you don't regret or dread some of those moments it takes to put you everywhere. Because if you will, I recommend not doing anything then. You have to be prepared for moments of sickness, car time, stress or momentary freakouts. Thankfully in my case, it was all worked out and quickly evolved into one of the most memorable weekends of college!