2001

WINTER:

• I rang in the New Year with my three roommates Lori, Erin & Sarah. We got all dressed up and went to several different house parties. It was a fun night!
• I decided to join Phi Sig. I didn’t know then I’d meet some of my best college friends through the sorority (I didn’t even know Adrienne yet!) Pledging was a great experience and I was so excited to be involved in something---joining the sorority was a turning point in my college experience. I was starting to feel like West Chester was home.
• My 20th birthday party at our house was an interesting night, Claire came up for it and I remember there was some roommate drama. Things were never boring at 224 E. Nields St.
• Concerts: Barenaked Ladies 

SPRING:

• I started baby-sitting for Alix and Noelle. I was waitressing and had Noelle & her mom at one of my tables. I thought she was the cutest little girl I’d ever seen and said if they ever needed a baby-sitter to give me a call. I heard from Laura shortly after and baby-sat for them the rest of the time I was in college.
• Went to the Woodlands for the first time for the Phi Sig spring formal. Some of my best Phi Sig memories are from the formals, they were the best!
• I drove down to VA to see DMB in their hometown with Mary. It was A LOT of driving for one weekend. It was cool to see Charlottesville although the show wasn’t the best.
• Concerts: Dave Matthews Band, David Gray

SUMMER:

• Spent my days baby-sitting and working at the Pepper Mill. It would get so hot in there I’d sit in the freezer when I had a few free minutes. The $ was worth it though!
• Visited Ocean City and Stone Harbor for the first time.
• Dance Marathon- a long 24 hours for a good cause!
• Good times going to a bunch of DMB shows with all different people.

• I introduced the Outer Banks to two friends I worked with at the Pepper Mill. We were supposed to have a big group but everyone backed out. I was just Steve, Dave and me until some visitors arrived later in the week. We drove up to the house and thought we only had half because it was so big. Nope, it was all ours! HUGE house, with a hot tub on the top deck, two houses off the beach. It was heaven---we had the best time. Steve and I still reminisce about that trip.
• Concerts: Tom Petty, Madonna, Barenaked Ladies & Vertical Horizon, Trey Anastasio, Janet Jackson

FALL:

• Back to school, it was hard to believe I was going into my junior year already. I was still living on Nields St. with Lori, Erin & Sarah
• I was the assistant recruitment chair and assistant pledge mom that semester, so many good times. 

•  I took a “little sister” in the sorority this semester, although that’s not how I think of her now. I remember sitting in Becky’s apartment just talking and talking one night, she had just decided to join Phi Sig and asked if I’d be her big. We weren’t supposed to promise anything but I told her then and there I’d love to. We started to spend lots of time together that led to a really incredible friendship. She was someone I never wanted to let down or disappoint, and I sort of think she felt the same way about me. She lived next door to the Phi Sig house so I got to see her a lot and also had somewhere to “get away” when I needed to get out of the house. She moved to CA and over time we sort of drifted apart a little. We can always pick up where we left off and I’m so happy we’ve been talking more often these days. Although I never really thought of her as my “little” since we were the same year, I do believe it’s what made us so close in the beginning. I love you Becky!
• September 11th- It will be the day we will never forget. We won’t forget where we were, what we were doing, who we were with or how we felt. I had an 8am class that was cancelled and I decided to walk home since my next class wasn’t until 11:15. I remember coming in the house and put on the TV to see live news coverage and something about planes hitting the Twin Towers. It was hard to understand what was happening. My dad called as the second plane hit, what the hell was going on? The TV was on for days, it felt funny to watch anything but the news. I remember the silence outside, a weird kind of calm. Everyone around me was stunned, the events of that day were so hard to comprehend. It was amazing to see the way people came together, differences were aside across the entire country. I never knew the significance this picture would have, taken in 1996 during a visit to the Statue of Liberty.
• Adrienne & I didn’t know each other too well until this semester. We realized at the same time we were basically the only ones in our group of friends that hadn’t turned 21 yet. It was a Friday night and we decided to hang out. We played beer pong for hours in the Phi Sig basement and the rest is history. She’s been one of my best friends ever since.

• I surprised my Dad with U2 tickets for his birthday. It was the first time either of us ever saw them and they were unbelievable. I was lucky to be able to give him such an awesome gift.
•  Concerts: U2, Barenaked Ladies, Elton John