2013

2013 was a year full of adventures. From 9 different states, 38 different cities, and 22 "firsts", many different memories were created.
Even though the month of January is already half way over, I still would like to share with you all some pictures from my 2013 and recap the wonderful year that I had.

Derek and Troy are like my brothers. We sadly had to say "see you later" to Troy as he moved to North Dakota earlier this year. :(

Emporia State University celebrated 150 years this February. It was such an honor to be able to be a part of this celebration and help out at the Gala. It was amazing seeing the campus come together to celebrate such a wonderful thing.

Snowmageddon 2013 hit and I survived at home with the pups. I love these two girls so much!

I competed at State for PBL. I got first in state in three of my events and second in my other. Qualifying me to compete at Nationals. 

The Missouri Valley Regional Meeting for BAP was hosted this year in Kansas City. As ESU's Chapter President, I was able to help out with the host chapter from KU. It was yet another great learning experience to be able to attend this conference.

April also brought something wonderful in being able to finally buy my first pair of cowboy boots! I had been wanting a pair for a long time so it was really exciting to finally be able to own them.

ESU's Blue Key Honor Society put on a 150 Students Making a Difference Banquet. It was a pretty cool honor to be selected to attend this.

The Spring semester brought my first two Business Ed classes. It was pretty exciting to finally be learning about my content and I even completed this final. Which took 19 1/2 hours. I am very thankful and fortunate to have had Dr. Railsback for part of my teaching program and I miss her a lot!

The end of the semester also brought along moving time. I lived by myself during the Spring semester and was looking to find a roommate. A couple of my friends were also looking for a roommate so I moved in with them. All my giraffes also made the move and are all now safe and sound in our new home.

My grandparents celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary. It was great to see all the family get together to celebrate with them. My grandparents mean the world to me and I love them so much!

I was able to work the Women's College World Series again this summer in Oklahoma City. It was yet another fun time and started off the summer well. While we were there, we experienced the widest tornado ever (2.5 miles wide). Luckily it turned and went south of us, but it was still scary.

Russell, Me, and Chelsea on the plane headed out to Anaheim, California, for PBL Nationals. This was my first time to go to California as well as my first time to compete at Nationals. I was able to take two of the four events I placed in at State. I chose Desktop Publishing and Business Presentation.

PBL Nationals were held at this hotel. My group didn't actually stay here, but instead got to stay in a condo. We had a blast with us 6 living together. We had many #condoquotes and #condomemories. We also found Del Taco and also go to spend time at the Downtown Disney District.

While in Anaheim, we were also able to go to an Angels' game! It was pretty exciting to experience a new field because the only other time I've been to an MLB game was at Kauffman Stadium. Our seats weren't too bad either!

Another first that was had this summer was getting to see and go into the ocean for the first time. We went to Huntington Beach on our free afternoon. This was probably one of the most joyous moments I've ever had. Russell and I jumped around and played in the waves. I cannot wait until the next time I get to see the ocean!

 Competition wise, I didn't do too shabby! Chelsea and I took our test for Desktop Publishing because we had already sent in our other material ahead of time. Jessica and I competed in Business Presentation. Our first presentation put us in the top 15 and into finals round. Which just so happened to be on my birthday! The night of the awards ceremony was a nerve-racking, yet exciting night. We were in the front row in front of thousands of other PBL members from across the nation. They went in alphabetical order through the events. The top 10 in each event were called onto the stage and then given their trophies. Business presentation was called and sadly, we didn't make it into the top 10. This was very disappointing and devastating, since this was our event to win. After the initial shock, I eventually calmed back down and waited for Desktop Publishing to get called. Chelsea and I made it in the top 10 and were called onstage. We ended up getting 8th in the Nation! It was such a great feeling and I cannot wait to compete at State this year and try to make it back to Nationals!

The next week after we got back from California was the biennial Weis Family Camping Trip. We went to Milford Lake again. This is always a good time to spend with the family.

A cool picture I took of my cousins watching the sun set one night at Milford.

I was able to check something else off my bucket list this summer in completing my first triathlon. It was just a tiny one, but was still quite an accomplishment. I also placed second in my age group!

Myself, along with my mom and Cindy after our races. My mom competed in the two mile race and Cindy did the triathlon as well!

This was the start of our Ram Rodeo Series tour in July. My first rodeo! Austin, Chris, and I along with some others traveled to Shawnee, OK to the IFYR. We then went to Rock Springs, WY and Cheyenne, WY. We had a lot of ups and downs throughout the month, but it was a good time overall. The three of us hadn't been together for this amount of time for quite a while and it was good to spend some quality times with both brothers. We met a lot of fun people and made some lasting memories.

This whole summer, everywhere we went, we took the crazy weather with us. This picture was from Cheyenne. Almost every day we were there, it rained. We experienced a crazy hail storm one day. Even though I've lived in Kansas my whole life and have experienced a lot of crazy weather, I had never experience anything like this before.

Something that was Really exciting for me this summer was that Kate Middleton had her baby! Rumer had it that the due date was July 13th, which ended up being a lot earlier than when she ended up having him. So there was a lot of wait and excitement for the little guy to arrive.

The next thing to get checked off the bucket list was to attend a Taylor Swift concert. My roommate was able to score two tickets to the Wichita concert and asked if I wanted to go with. Of course I said Yes!

Her Red concert was seriously so great and I was so freaking giddy! She will always be one of my favorites!

That very next morning we headed to New Orleans! This was the second year that I was able to go to the CASE ASAP conference with ESU Ambassadors. This was another first for the year in being able to go to New Orleans. I had never even been to Louisiana before. We all loaded up in the big van and made the trip down there.

While there, we met up with a friend we had met the year before in Indy from VCU. It was fun to get to catch up and experience some memories in New Orleans together.

This is the whole group of students who went! My wonderful Ambassabuddies. (Plus Nikki) While there, we were able to experience Bourbon Street multiple times. That place never sleeps. I also got to go to my first NFL game as we watched the Saints play the Chiefs. Taylor, Daniel, and I even went to a casino our last night there and also walked around down by the river. We also got to experience Cafe Du Monde. Overall, such a great time with lots of bonding.

Another first was being able to experience Power and Light district in Kansas City. I had heard about Shark Bar but experiencing it was a whole other experience. It is a blast!

I got to see two wonderful friends get married this fall! It was a beautiful wedding and so exciting. Congrats to Amanda and Levi! (Onward!)

Myself, Rachel, Tayler, and Anna. My roommate from New Orleans and my roommate here in Emporia both won Homecoming Queen!

This is Nala. One day when I was driving home, she was in the road and was scared. If anyone knows me, they know I hate cats. Like for real. Hate. But I fell in love with this little girl. I took her home in hopes of keeping her. Sadly she was sick and we weren't able to take care of her. Plus our apartment complex doesn't really allow us to have animals. We had to say good bye to her, but I'll always have a place in my heart for this little one.

Halloween with the roomies. I was Twitter :)

Myself, Micah, and Erica at the National Fall Leadership Conference in Grapevine, Texas. I had never been to a conference like this before. We stayed at a fabulous resort (Basically a city in itself) and got to bond as State officers. We even took a trip to Dallas one night and Fort Worth the next. We hung out with the PBL National President and Vice President of our region. I also drove the whole time through all the crazy traffic!

One more cousin got added to the family! Beautiful Oakley Jade! I can't wait to see her grow up like I've been able to see Cooper grow up. <3

The month of November brought some pretty exciting CD releases. Lady Gaga released ARTPOP, One Direction released Midnight Memories, and Jake Miller released Us Against Them. All three of these CD releases brought with it some interesting memories!

Thanksgiving Day was my first day on the floor at Walmart. Luckily I didn't have to be a cashier yet, but since then, I've experienced a lot of crazy things. Walmart is one interesting place. I do enjoy my job though and have made some pretty good "Walmart friends".


 
 Last but not least, I was chosen to be a part of the #ImAHornet campaign for the School of Business. There are a couple of these pictures of me hanging around Cremer Hall, some flyers that are sent to prospective students, and I even have a video on YouTube. You can check it out at this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPHwVlDsmQU

Overall, 2013 was a great year and I wouldn't have changed any of it. There were Many more memories that I could make this post go forever. Thanks to everyone who I met and continued to grow closer to over this year. You all have impacted my life in one way or another.

Until next time,
The Chronicles Of Kirsten Continues