I love it when the sun is shining, faces are smiling, and good vibes are all around.

Here are some events/activities that happened recently that fulfilled those requirements:

I explored Creve Coeur Park with these lovely people (Iris, Carlos, Ben, and Bryar who isn't pictured).

Fontbonne Current Students and Alumni got together to volunteer at City Seeds Urban Farm with Gateway Greening.

I got to visit Grant's Farm for the first time with a group of Students and Residence Hall Association.

We even got to feed baby goats at Grant's Farm!

Enjoying a spur of the moment picnic at Oak Knoll Park!

Having some picture-taking fun in Medaille Meadow on campus.

Peace, Love, & Beautiful Weather.

April in general tends to be an eventful month, so here are some snapshots from recent events:

Dueling Pianos, an Event Sponsored by FAB (Fontbonne Activities Board) for Spirit Week

People in the Fontbonne Community gathered for Fontbonne Day (a day that we have off of school so that Students, Faculty, and Staff can go out into the community and do service projects). Fontbonne Day is one of my favorite things about Fontbonne.

This is my Fontbonne Day service group at the Shalom House!

For more information about the Shalom House: http://www.shalomhousestl.org/

A picture from the Mr. Fontbonne Contest. The contestants are getting ready to perform an opening dance number.

Even though he didn't win Mr. Fontbonne, I was proud of my boyfriend Shea for winning the title Mr. Congeniality!

NSSLHA (National Student Speech-Language Hearing Association) had a Field Day on Campus!

One of the many photos taken at the Spring Dance.

Peace, Love, and April!!!!

I could get used to beautiful sunny weather.

As unpredictable as Midwest weather can be, I appreciate those beautiful sunny days that bring people out of the darkness to the bright outdoors.

As far as recent events go, this weekend has been delightful due to the great weather and fun outdoor events that I have been able to be a part of.

One recent event was a tailgate that we had on campus in order to pump Students up for the Men’s Lacrosse game (which we won by the way).

The tailgate featured personalized pennants that people could get.

Pennant-makers hard at work.

Fontbonne Staff Members Lisa Clanton and Janelle Densberger representing Griffin Nation.

It was fun watching the pennant-making process.

Fontbonne Students enjoying the weather and waiting for pennants.

Another recent event was the GO! St Louis Marathon. My Fontbonne Friends Marcy and Isabella, and I went last year.

Here's a picture of us cheering on runners at the event last year.

Even though I’m not a morning person, the GO! St. Louis marathon has been an event that has been worth waking up for. We post up on the Delmar Loop usually, which is around mile 20, near the end of the marathon. It’s fun interacting with the runners and rooting them on as they get closer to the finish line.

Here is Marcy, Me, and Isabella in our cheer gear this year! We're wearing black, red, and green to support our friend who dedicated his marathon partially to the people of Kenya. (Michael and I went to Kenya this past Summer with Fontbonne.)

We went to Fozzie's Sandwich Emporium near school to get some delicious food and shakes after the race.

Lovin' everyone taking advantage of the beautiful weather and the hammocks on campus in Medaille Meadow.

It’s just a shame that schoolwork has to put a damper on things, and my time enjoying the outdoor activities has to be limited. Last home stretch though…less than 40 days until I’m on Summer break and graduated!!!

Peace, Love, & Spirit!

Let’s just say that last week (the week before Spring Break) was a rough one for me. However, thanks to the awesome support of the Fontbonne Community and my friends here, I have been feeling much better. And I’ve even started going to counseling sessions in Student Affairs with one of Fontbonne’s on-campus counselors to help me get to a better health & wellness state. I definitely recommend taking advantage of these services at Fontbonne if you ever think you might need it.

My Fontbonne Friends Isabella, Ariel, and I after my good little crying session. Can't keep those emotions bottled up! Seeking support is a good thing.

Since last week was so emotionally rough, Spring Break could not have come at a better time.  I only have a few days left of break, but I’ve been taking advantage of every second.

Here are a few things that I’ve been doing during my break:

I went to Kansas City with these lovely people and some other Fontbonne Students for a Service Trip through FISH.

FISH (Fontbonne In Service and Humility) is the service/volunteer organization on campus.

One of our service projects was at Harvesters, a food bank in Kansas City. We helped to sort some of the donations.

It snowed quite a bit while we were in Kansas City.

However, we made the most of the weather and hung out at the place we were staying at.

We even celebrated Nisha's birthday, a Student on the trip.

Isabella, an International Student from Taiwan, took advantage of the snow and built her first snowman!

We attempted to make a fort.

We later went to Dave & Busters to celebrate Nisha's birthday and get out of the house.

After getting back to St. Louis, I spent some time with my roommates and Jessica (a Fontbonne Commuter Student) to celebrate my roommate Emily's birthday at Build-A-Bear in the St. Louis Galleria.

Claire, one of my Fontbonne Friends and I hung out in Downtown Kirkwood, a suburb within St. Louis, and went through some of the shops.

The weather was much too beautiful not to enjoy walking outside.

We enjoyed some delicious Middle Eastern food from Ranoush.

I found this soap at a shop called Christopher's with a mustache design. (I love mustaches!)

Besides that, I’ve been trying to enjoy my break and relax, while also working on some Graduate School Applications. I think it’s been a pretty well-balanced break overall.

Here’s to the weekend!

Peace, Love, & Spring Break!

If I had to pick a favorite color, without a question, it would be green.

It’s also conveniently associated with the environment, and I love “going green.”

Fontbonne is becoming "greener" via our Southwest Hall garden!

A recent holiday that just occurred was St. Patrick’s Day…a holiday that is conveniently very green.

The Fontbonne HES Department had a Student Food Demo that was St. Patrick’s Day-themed, which I really enjoyed.

Fontbonne Students showing us how to make various food dishes.

I was pretty excited about it.

The mashed potatoes were probably my favorite. I'm a big fan of potatoes.

Utilizing technology in the kitchen!

We even had dessert!

I was excited to win an attendance prize! This peeler will definitely come in handy for my own personal cooking.

And now a few gems from the Dogtown St. Patrick’s Parade. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with different St. Louis neighborhoods, Dogtown is considered the traditionally Irish neighborhood.)

We were excited to arrive at the parade.

I enjoyed looking at everyone's festive attire.

I spy a Kermit the Frog.

Let the parade begin!

There was some singin'...

There was some smilin'...

Fancy Irish parade floats...

There was some Irish dancin' of course...

"The Brady Bunch" was even there.

Just your neighborhood leprechaun strolling along...

People handing out beads like crazy!

This is my friend, Ahmed, experiencing a St. Patrick's Day parade for the first time, since he's from Iraq.

Me, Ahmed, and fellow Fontbonne blogger Marielle after the parade festivities.

Peace, Love, & Lots of Green.

While it’s not officially Spring yet, I’ve noticed many people around the Fontbonne Campus catching “Spring fever.”

Our campus’ hammocks have also appeared in the Medaille Meadow, which should be a sure sign of Spring coming!

Along with this, I’ve noticed more sunny days and the Fashion Merchandising Students are getting ready to host their Spring Fashion Show at [RE]FRESH by collecting reused clothing and looking for/casting models for the Fashion Show on April 26th! If you live around the area, you should definitely check it out!

A collection bin on campus for clothing to donate to REFRESH!

My Fellow Fontbonne Friends and I modeling at the Fashion Show last year.

Other exciting happenings around campus as we prepare for Spring…

The Environmental Club helped us get these nifty blue recycling bins for Fontbonne Residents!

There was a Pi Memorization Contest in honor of Pi Day! My friend Claire (on the right) won with memorizing 115 digits of Pi!

Peace, Love, & Sunshine.

Ahhhhhh! How are we already passed the midpoint of my last semester of undergraduate school?

How am I a Senior already?!?

For those who are still in high school or aren’t quite Seniors in college yet, just know that the time will fly by! Don’t take that time for granted!

If you’re a Senior like me and some of my other classmates, you’re most likely freaking out quite a bit about “what’s next” after graduation in May. Therefore, I suggest to those who still have time to think more deeply about this to at least put some thought into where you see yourself after graduation. Thinking about this can also help guide your college career, because ultimately, your college experiences help to shape the person you are when you graduate.

I would also like to say that this is the time of year where the big projects (i.e. a Research Paper and Senior Capstone Project) start to make themselves known. This is not a good time to do things like procrastinate, get sick, fall to the weaknesses of your own limitations, etc. Therefore, let’s just say that I’m struggling right now. However, knowing that there’s less than 70 days until graduation helps me to be at ease, because I know that one of my major goals (graduating from College) is getting nearer and nearer each day.

And now some random pictures from some of my current life events:

Searching for books for my Research Paper. I like that you can get the book location texted to your phone. Thanks, technology!

Getting to know the library books at the Fontbonne Library...

Sometimes, you have to reward yourself for good behavior. Positive reinforcement!

Visiting a Graduate Program at Columbia College Chicago!

The Dance/Movement Therapy & Counseling Department at Columbia College Chicago, where I'll hopefully be next year!

One of the Graduate Classrooms at Columbia College Chicago.

A dance studio area for Graduate Students at Columbia College Chicago.

The building across the street from where I had my Graduate Admissions Interview.

Green mashed potatoes with garlic and kale that I made in my Southwest Hall apartment in honor of March and St. Patrick's Day coming up!

Some closing thoughts on time management…time management is a great skill to have and is much needed in the current fast-paced life of modern society. Either that, or I recommend becoming a part of a society that is slower-paced if time management is not your thing. I’m still trying to learn how to properly balance everything.

Welp, back to schoolwork for me!

Peace, Love, & Relaxation (Eventually).

Last month was my last official performance as a Fontbonne Griffin Girl!

For those of you who don’t know, Griffin Girls is the Dance Team at Fontbonne.

We mostly just perform at the halftime of the Men’s Basketball Games, but I know that the team is looking to grow by performing at other events and even going to dance conferences/conventions in the future (which I sincerely hope that they do so).

I have discussed my love for dancing in a previous blog post before, which you can read here.

However, I’d like to use this blog post to dedicate my love to the Griffin Girls, which has been such a big part of my experience here at Fontbonne.

Below are some pictures we took at our last basketball performance for the season.

Seniors on Griffin Girls (I also wish that Erica N. and Kelly could be in this picture)! I wish them all the best after graduation!

I love my team!

This is the lovely Conner, who helped me so much this school year with choreography! She is amazing!

This is the super sweet Heather, who happens to be both a Griffin Girl and a Student in one of Fontbonne's Graduate Programs! I have so much respect for her being able to do both.

This is Katelyn, currently our only Freshman on the team. I wish her all the best in her future years on the team and at Fontbonne.

This is my fellow Dancer and Senior Speech Language Pathology Friend, Lee! Our experiences go way back to Freshman Year together.

This is Shannon and she is such a star! I'm amazed by how great she is with not having as much dance technique experience as some of us.

This is Miss Kristen! She makes some of the best faces and is just super rad.

This is the fabulous Tabitha, who tries to do it all! I feel like I've been involved with so many things with her that I can't even keep count of them all. I'm amazed by how much she does, but I also hope that she finds the time to rest.

This is Adrienne! I've had the privilege of being in classes like Yoga and Psychology with her, which have been great. It's been so wonderful to be on the team with her as well.

This is Katy! She always brings so much power and energy into her performances, and I admire her for that.

This is my wonderful Coach Mandie, who has helped guide us all these years. She has basically been the team's mother and one of our biggest supporters.

I’m going to miss dancing with all of these beautiful ladies so much, and I wish all the best for them!

This is the Griffin Girls at our first performance this school year at Fontbonne's Griffinsanity Event.

Peace, Love, & Griffin Girls.

My Blog for today will come mostly in video form, which I think is exciting.

Click here to see My Snow Day Vlog on YouTube!

I hope you enjoyed watching my vlog, because I had a lot of fun making it.

And now, some pictures!

Fellow Fontbonne Friends, Ariel, Dillon, and I posing for a picture at Art Hill.

Other People gathering at Art Hill to go sledding.

Looking down from Art Hill.

Other sledding enthusiasts on Art Hill.

Another view of Art Hill.

Peace, Love, & Snow Days!

For most Americans, we think of celebrating the new year on January 1st each year.

However, some cultures, such as Chinese culture, celebrate “a new year” according to a different calendar.

Fontbonne University has a pretty diverse group of cultures and ethnic influences on campus. I love getting to know and talking to many of our International Students. There is an organization on campus called the Fontbonne International Students Alliance (FISA). This is a group that is great for those who are International Students, because it is meant to help International Students transition into life at Fontbonne. Along with this, members share different cultures with each other and come together as a community.

This past Sunday, February 10th, FISA put on a Chinese New Year Dinner that I attended and assisted with.

My Ticket for the Event

I thought that FISA did a fabulous job with the event and the food was delicious (it’s obvious that other people thought the food was scrumptious as well, because it was all gone by the end of the night).

Attendees getting food from the buffet.

There were probably around 70 people or so who attended the event. And from what I could tell, everyone seemed to enjoy the good food and good company.

Dr. Golden, Fontbonne President, giving a Welcome Speech

Students from SECA (Students for the Enhancement of Cultural Awareness) and Others from the Community

FISA Members/Students who helped make the event happen.

Overall, I had a great evening and am glad that there are organizations on our campus that put on events such as this!

Peace, Love, & Happy Chinese New Year!