Three times a Bison in Pennsylvania?

The Epsilon Pi chapter at Bucknell University

November 27 - December 1 

My third visit to Pennsylvnia this fall, Bucknell ended up being my last annual visit of the semester!

Outside of the adorable house that I stayed in during my visit - it was a little inn. 

They have their own greenhouse on campus! But, I couldn't help but think of "Frosty the Snowman." :(

The campus was beautiful...

I loved all the traditional buildings.

And this was the most amazing chapel - it was non-denominational and all religious symbols were represented on the front wall!

Unfortunately, this chapel is booked so far in advance that it is a running joke among Bucknellians, "pick the date before you pick your mate!"

This is the basketball arena.

The Bucknell Thetas loved that I took this picture... It is one of my favorites from the semester!

And since I flew out of Williamsport, guess where we just had to stop!

Yep, the home of the Little League World Series, of course.

And just like that, my first semester as an ELC came to a close. It has been an incredible experience, but I'm looking forward to a few weeks without airplanes, surrounded by the people I love.

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah!

For now, love from Lewisburg, Pennsylvania...

Crispy in Colorado...

The Beta Omega chapter at Colorado College

November 13 - November 17

The weather was so nice during my visit. Definitely crispy, but it made for a few really beautiful days!

From almost every part of campus, you had an amazing view of the mountains.

The campus was beautiful.

This is the oldest building on campus!

In front of the Beta Omega chapter lodge...

These little huts were so neat! The artist used real branches to build them and they are actually still growing because they were planted into a little corner of campus.

During my time in Colorado, I also got to see the "Garden of the Gods."

One of my favorite pictures from my travels thus far.

*If you're ever in Colorado Springs, you MUST stop to eat La'au's Taco Shop. It is a tiny little place, but they serve Hawaiian style tacos, and they just might be the best (not including, Dad's) tacos I've ever had!

Two visits left this semester, and headed home for cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and family... Happy Thanksgiving!

For now, love from Colorado Springs, Colorado...

LOVE in Philadelphia...

The Beta Eta chapter at the University of Pennsylvania

October 31 - November 3

I loved getting to visit Penn! It was everything that I expected an Ivy League campus to be...

It was just like the college campuses that you always see in movies that look NOTHING like Southern California!

Penn is set right in the middle of this city-like area, surrounded by neat buildings and amazing restaurants. There's the Theta house!

In front of the Beta Eta chapter facility!

I loved the building behind me... The Adams Family house was actually designed to look like it!

This is a statue of Ben Franklin! If you look closely, he is actually missing a button on his vest...

Consequently, the artist responsible for this noticed Franklin's missing button and created a giant, broken button to sit directly across from the Ben Franklin statue.

I just loved this. There was great art all over Penn's campus.

The best thing I ate in Philadelphia was from this tiny little food truck! It was a breakfast sandwich with amazing hot sauce and eventually I know I'll have to go back to Philly just for that. :)

This is clearly just a replica of the famous "LOVE" sign on campus, but the actual sign is not very far from Penn at all. This is my favorite picture from my visit... And yes, I'm making the "O," a Theta. :)

After the longest, busiest few weeks of my year traveling thus far, I get a little break in California... Then it's off to Colorado before I head home for Thanksgiving! I only have three visits left this semester... Where does the time go?!

For now, love from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

Discovering Groundhogs in Pittsburgh...

The Epsilon Omega chapter at Washington & Jefferson
October 27 - October 31

Welcome to W & J! I actually got to enjoy snowfall during my visit, but it was nearly all melted by the very next day.

Outside the guest room that I stayed in at the facility!

The Epsilon Omega chapter facility!

I just loved this amazing view...

Here's a glimpse of campus, which is not very big at all!

This is the president of W & J's home... She lives right off campus!

This is the Admission House, which is known among students to be extremely haunted!

This is the entrance of another haunted building on campus - this is where the president's office is located. During my visit, ghost hunters were on campus and chose to explore this building. I did not have the guts to go, but some of the chapter women went and shared some of the stories from their experience with me and it sounded pretty convincing. I was scared enough just taking this picture in pure daylight... No ghost hunting for me!

The Alpha chapter of Phi Kappa Psi is at W & J... So this one's for my Dad!

This is the Phi Psi fountain located on campus as a tribute to the Fraternity's founders.

And here I am hanging out with Washington and Jefferson! The college actually has a really neat story... Washington and Jefferson used to be two separate campuses that were adamant rivals, but decreased enrollment due to the Civil War forced the two campuses to be combined. It has been W&J ever since.

My most interesting fun fact from this visit was that I got to see my FIRST groundhog! Nothing says "I'm from California," like getting freakishly excited over a groundhog.

I'm headed to another visit in Pennsylvania, so I get to stay on the same time zone for a whole week - what a leisure!

For now, love from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

San Francisco to St. Louis!

Finally, the Eta Upsilon chapter at the University of San Francisco!

October 19th - October 25th

I say "finally" because this brand new chapter has been in the works for a long time! Here I am with some of the Installation team and a few new members... How special for them to be the very first members of the Eta Upsilon chapter.

One of our masterpieces from my visit in October in  recruiting the new members!

During my two extended visits, I stayed with the ELCs based with the Eta Upsilon chapter for the year, Corey and Lauren... So even though I'm always traveling, I got a good taste of what it's like to be based with a new chapter!

This will definitely be one of my most memorable pictures from the year... This is the Installation team for the Eta Upsilon chapter, including some of the greatest Thetas I know, even our Fraternity President, Amy Kates! It is such a neat feeling for me to know that I am a small part of the reason that there is now a Theta chapter on the University of San Francisco's campus.

And believe it or not, my big sis from my chapter, Steffani, just so happens to be in the nursing program at USF...

So I got to help start a Theta chapter on my big sis' campus... Talk about coming "full circle."

I also got to have dinner one night with some other lovely chapter sisters - Brenda and Rochelle. The girls made sure we stopped at campus so we could take these pictures because it was my last night in town and I hadn't taken my typical photo by the University sign! Couldn't break the tradition, and I'm especially glad to have them in these shots with me. :)

The next morning, it was off to Washington University in St. Louis! I was asked to be on the presentation team to "sell" Theta at Wash U and possibly reopen our Theta chapter on the campus in the next few years! It made for an extremely long day, but it was an incredible experience and such a privilege to be included...

After just one full day in St. Louis, it was on to Pittsburgh! This was the craziest two weeks of my year traveling thus far.

For now, love from San Fran, St. Louis, & a bunch of airplanes...

It's Surprisingly Nice in Nebraska...

The Rho chapter at the University of Nebraska

October 9 - October 12

I know the picture is kind of blurry, but after four flights in one day (yuck!), I met Jane Lynch in the Chicago airport! Woohoo! She happened to be doing a book signing (so random) and she arrived just as I walked up... I got to talk to her before anyone actually realized she was there!

And after my crazy day of flying, I finally made it to the University of Nebraska! They sure love their football... Go Cornhuskers!!

I arrived the day AFTER their biggest comeback game in history!! Poor planning, I know...

Although I didn't really know what to expect from Nebraska at first, I really enjoyed the weather and the beautiful campus!

The adorable Rho chapter facility!

The front door! I loved these windows...

This is the UNL Student Union!

This statue was really neat! Apparently, you can find every letter of the alphabet in it by looking at it from different angles.

Inside the chapter facility with Exec after our last meeting...

The chapter women took me to the coolest little homemade ice cream place! They make their flavors fresh every day and they are always interesting...

I had PB&J ice cream! Sounds strange, but it was delicious...

*So, if you're ever in Lincoln, make sure you stop by Ivanna Cone! Also, Pickleman's  Gourmet Cafe had great thin crust pizza!

It is going to be an extremely busy couple of weeks for me... My travels will take me from Los Angeles, to San Francisco, to St. Louis, to Pittsburgh, to Philadelphia, and then back to LA, in a little over two weeks... Never a dull moment!

For now, love from Lincoln, Nebraska...