pumpkin patch.

Florida is NOT well known for it's change of season, snow, or cold weather, but sometimes it's okay to pretend right?

That is NOT a rhetorical question... it is ALWAYS okay to pretend because fall is one of the prettiest times of the year & just because we are in Florida doesn't mean we have to suffer, right?  I mean with the ocean of red & yellow leaves, the contrast in color between the blue sky & the gourds & pumpkins, & the beautiful pre-winter clothes, it just doesn't get much better.

There is nothing better than feeling & looking pretty with a slight chill in the air... smells like fall to me & tastes like smiles.

Today was a pumpkin patch kind of day.  The Gainesville weather took a break from the muggy heat & gave us a little fall shiver.  Behind the bars & clubs, there are some beautiful natural parts of Gainesville... Paynes Prairie, The Devil's Millhopper, the farmland in old Alachua, the corn fields that turn into mazes during October,  Ichetucknee Springs, & the pumpkin patches that dot the city in orange when fall rolls around.  Sometimes you get so involved with campus that you forget how beautiful the surrounding area is.   

Dressing all cutesy, us roommates went out on a bit of an adventure... ending up at an awkward pumpkin patch on the side of the road & rolling up in our fancy outfits to a random farm for young kids with bouncy houses & "spooky trails..." Houston, we have a problem.  We were getting pretty desperate at this point in our travels... the classic graduation "railroad picture" even became an option since we couldn't find an adequate pumpkin patch & we all looked so nice in our shades of orange & blue.  But we eventually prevailed & found Trinity Church where we set up camp, the tripods, the light reflectors, the models... JOKING!  But we did set up camp for a long time.  We may or may not have overstayed our welcome.

But I bought a tiny pumpkin to make up for it... Squilliam. 

Just call us super models... yeah, we know how to work it.

Anyway, overall it was a very successful day & weekend.  Initiated 67 new sisters into Kappa Kappa Gamma & relished our beautiful ritual & celebrated Kappa's 143rd birthday today with some amazing alumnae from chapters all over the country.  There was even an alumna from our founding school, Monmouth College, which is very cool.

The extent of sisterhood once again extends outside what you know.  Thousands of other amazing women share the ritual you live & are considered your sisters.  Makes the world, once again, a whole lot smaller when you have sisters all over the country singing the same songs, wearing their keys, & loving their sisters.  "We will always remember our dear Kappa days."

But I would like to take a special aside for my sister & roommate, Rebecca, on her recent engagement to her boyfriend of 5 years!  So incredibly happy for her & her fiance!

It has been really cool getting to know you better over this fall semester.  You are a great friend & I am lucky to call you my sister; therefore, our friendship is not just for four years, it is for life!  So... you are stuck with me & Colbie.

(And your owl knit cap is so age appropriate.)

  Ciao Bella!

circa 1977.

Circa 1977: UF Homecoming Parade

Over 30 years ago, 2 people met for the first time at the Country Village pool in the muggy heat (as we all know) of a Gainesville summer.  My mom, exhibit A, looked stunning in a lime green bathing suit en route to law school & my dad, exhibit B, was a handsome nerd planning on attending medical school in the near future.  Even if the "spark" wasn't immediate, they instantly liked each other & (I'm going to get real cliche here & tell you...) the rest is history.

My parents were just kids at the time... to be exact they were about my age (scary I know... I always forget that my parents had a life before me.  I guess it just wasn't a good life yet) attending UF, just like me.  Well anyway, they met, went on a few dates... blah blah blah, a few years went by... blah blah blah & then they got married in 1980; had a few kids, moved to Florida, lived their lives, became world travelers, discovered the cure for cancer, & fell in love with Colorado.  You know, the usual.

It is amazing how time flies by.  33 years later & my parents are still best friends.  I know because I can see it in their banter.  They make fun of each other... the proof of a great relationship is being able to laugh at yourself.  My mom asks stupid questions (i.e. "Where are the SWISS Family Robinson from?" or "I wonder what state the Colonel who started KFC (everyone & their mom, except mine apparently, knows what that stands for!!) is from?") & my dad says sub-par jokes & puns about EVERYTHING, but in the end it's all about compatibility.  And sure, it wasn't always easy, but that's just life & the way it is, & it's more important to look back at those hard moments & know they just made you stronger & a little bit closer.

I always make the analogy, but I think it works here as well: when watching a soccer game & you look back at the goalie's performance, you always remember that shot he or she missed, & you ignore the amazing saves that were made.  Why when we look back do we always remember the bad stuff?  It doesn't make any sense because behind every bad(ish) thing that happens there are 4748657634 good things screaming for attention:

Like the time Daniel made an actual funny joke about "fins to the left, fins to the right" when there was scuba equipment in the trunk, or the time Scott just "didn't know when he was almost done," or when Suki was a surprise for Hanukkah, or when we had a family flan fight in the kitchen just because, or when we went to almost every European country in a span of 10 years, or when just spending 1 night in an RV in an Alaskan parking lot was "the best vacation ever," or when we went to 47486 soccer games across the state, or when we celebrated Christmas in the snow, or when we had snowball fights in the Steamboat hot tubs, or when we saw dad's face in the skydiving video, or when I signed all my cards with 008 INC. because I am a super spy who loves the number 8, or when you sent the Thanksgiving menu & included graphically where the goat cheese came from, or when mom started painting again, or that time in Africa when everyone knew who "DEBBIE" was, or when we bought our Snowmass condo & turned it into our haven, or when we were all together again this summer for the first time in years, or when you won the lottery (just kidding... I was just seeing if you were paying attention), or when you just lived this amazing life with the best set of 5 people there is.

When you think about all that life above, you know that you created something special: a family.  Just 2 kids who met sometime in 1977 grew up & formed this incredible family with incredible aspirations & futures.  If it weren't for that lime green bathing suit or my dad's guts, this post would not be happening right now... which means I wouldn't be happening right now & neither would Daniel nor Scott.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is this: thank you for meeting, getting a cheese plate at the Mad Monk's Inn, marrying, staying together, loving each other every day & us kids, looking at each other as if not a single day has gone by since 1977, being involved in our lives, taking us with you when you became world travelers, making room for all 3 of us in your busy & professional lives, giving us EVERYTHING we ever wanted, giving up single life & work for our futures, being the best parents that ever existed, & sending me to UF, where hopefully I can wash, rinse, & repeat.

Here's to the best couple & their UF alumni status (even though my mom is wearing garnet... oops!) & all the things/years in between!  

Parents weekend: 2011

LOVE,
Rachele (008 INC.)

birthday bex.

This is a story of a Floridian meeting a Bristolian & how they became family.

I am going to start off this post with a big HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY to my socially awesome, happy & smiley, traveling obsessed, & friendliest friend, Bex!  I hope you have a great birthday with lots of family, friends, fun, & favorites!  Wish I could be there to celebrate it with you!  You deserve the best day ever!

Well... I will start the story now.  In 2009 my "real" family & I went on a cruise to Scandinavia (I know... casual), anyway, if you have ever been on a Royal Caribbean Cruise before than you'd know that there is a section on the ship for a club of teenagers called "fuel," where I found myself a lot.  I didn't know many people, & for 2 whole weeks I was forced to be social & meet new people.  Going on a European cruise truly helps you meet people from all over the world: Canada, South America, & mostly... you guessed it, Europe!  I really enjoyed getting to know everyone & I liked them all a lot, but you know how it ends... "blah blah blah, I hope to see you again someday/let's get together another time" (embrace), & you walk off thinking, I will NEVER see those people again!  Usually you're right, but sometimes you're not......

Our only picture together from the cruise... rough, but reality 2009

6 months goes by & thoughts about the cruise have waned, leaving me a normal kid once again until one day I got a facebook message from my friend Bex from the cruise explaining her huge plans to visit the United States over the summer & wondering if she could stay a few nights here along the way.  I asked my mom & surprisingly she complied, but as the dates began to get closer & closer, she became more worried that Bex could be a mass serial killer planning a heist along the East Coast.  The truth is... she never actually thought Bex would make the journey over here.  But once again... Bex proved us wrong & she flew into Orlando with a new doo, a bright red pack, knee highs with converses, more color than anyone around, flailing her arms, & with no serial killing on the mind!  She was here & she was awesome!

I have to admit... I was a little worried myself since I had never hung out with her unless there were 475464 other people there too.  I couldn't help, but wonder... would we get along?
        

2010: Bristolian attacks Florida with enthusiasm

Well... the answer is, yes we did & so did she & my parents, & she & my friends, & she & my pets, & she & EVERYONE!  You can't not like this girl.  & that is how she became my Bristolian sister & my mom became her "American mum."  We kayaked, mini-golfed & had batting practice, wind surfed, ate Hershey bars & Butterfingers, swam, tanned, & everything that is apparently "American" & needed to be crossed off the bucket list.  Most importantly... Bex taught us a few things.  The chicken is the most dangerous animal in Europe.  OKAY!  Stop picturing giant, evil, human devouring chickens with huge claws & menacing snarls... we were talking about salmonella, duhhh.  & no... that is NOT what I pictured when I heard this bizarre remark!  Well...     

Did I mention a week later she met us again in New York for a short time?  Well she did.  You can't help but admire someone with the guts & personality to fly half way across the world to meet up & backpack with people you just barely know.  More than admiration... wonder.
 

Me, American Mum, Bristolian Sister taking on the Big Apple

So the summer passed & Bex & I stayed in touch reasonably well planning our next summer's adventures.  It was my turn to check out her digs & since I know "knew" someone in England, I could travel alone.  Again... you don't think that plans would solidify, but they did & I traveled to Bristol in 2011 to visit Bex & her home.

2011: Bath

We went EVERYWHERE! It was awesome to travel around England with Bex & her mum, meet her friends, & learn the hip lingo.  We went to Bath, where I coined the rather (I thought) impressive phrase "Bex, Bath, & Beyond," we saw Stonehenge & thought about alien intervention, saw the city where my family is supposedly from, & went to see the double feature of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2.  Yep.  It was a good time.  Again... most importantly, Bex doesn't lie. Chickens really are dangerous!!  Who would have guessed? 1-0 Bex.

That vacation ended with Bex & I closer than ever.  We made a deal we would plan on seeing each other every year at least once for as long as we could keep it up.  In a way, we are pen-pals because we keep in contact: sometimes through letters, mostly through facebook, & annually in person.  It is hard to stay in contact with people sometimes, but that is what is so amazing about having a friend like Bex... she makes the world seem small.

And that's when she decided to study abroad in Mississippi (pronounced Missipee) & became a Southerner.  Did they play quidditch in the South?  Well... Bex did.  Bex did it all & became a true Southern Miss Golden Eagle.  "To the Top!"  She just never slows down!

And luckily... since she was so close, it was easy to plan a vacation over Christmas Break to Colorado.  & Bex came too!  Wouldn't want to have it any other way.  It's funny... because my brother Scott also met us out there & he had never actually met Bex before, but said, "It feels like I already have."  That's just the way Bex is.  You just feel like you know her even when you don't. 

2012: Snowmass, Colorado

After just barely making it in 2012, Bex made a trip down to Gainesville in 2013 on her way down to the Quidditch World Cup in Orlando.  We even wore matching shirts & toured our way around campus taking pictures as Gators.

2013

So far... 5 years... 5 visits... 0 murders... 10990394754 memories.

As I told you up front: this is a story about how Bex became family & I'd like to make one last shout out to her for being one amazing person!  Thanks for being such a great friend/sister all these years & Happy Birthday!

Love,
Rachele