Bringing the Talent Home

I had an interesting and unusual opportunity this weekend. During the week, I was asked if I would have some time to come in to the business school Dean's Office early on Saturday morning to have a chat with a high school student. Our goal (there were six students there) was to just talk with the student about everything IU and the business school has to offer, as well as letting him know what student life was like.

Now, I have been to several recruiting events similar to this, but there were definitely a few things that were different this time.

1. There were six IU students there and only ONE high school recruit.
2. The Dean of the business school was there.
3. The recruit's parents were there.
4. Coach Tom Crean and two of his staff were there.

Wait - Tom Crean? Yes, this time was different because the student we were trying to recruit was none other than Cody Zeller, a blue-chip basketball recruit who is considering coming to IU next year to play for the Hoosiers. Of course, when I heard about this opportunity, I was extremely excited and I really wanted to represent IU in the best way possible.

After eating breakfast with Cody, his family, the Dean, Coach Crean, and a few of his staff, the IU students spent some time with just Cody, talking about life at IU and at the business school. Cody is a great student as well as a basketball player, and he and his family are all genuinely good people.

This was Cody's last college visit, as he had three official visits - Butler, North Carolina, and IU. Hopefully he will choose to come to IU (signing day begins next month). But even if he doesn't, he is a great kid who I am sure will be successful wherever he chooses to take his talents.

Also, Kara and I had a chance to stop by the new basketball practicing facility - Cook Hall. Here are a few pictures that I didn't take (idsnews.com  and xibitz.com)

Right Beside Assembly Hall

The Five Title Trophies at Bottom of Glass Column

Thanks again for stopping by to read!

Home for the Weekend

Last week was an extremely hectic week, where I had absolutely no down time with 6 exams, 4 interviews, work, and a whole lot of studying. After Friday afternoon came, I was definitely ready to head home and just relax. I was ready to "not be on any kind of schedule" and go with the flow while hanging out with my family.

The only thing that actually required a lot of focus and attention was below, which was definitely more meticulous that I had anticipated.

My Monster Jack-O-Lantern

Going home would not be complete without some sort of random job with my father, so I headed up to Grandpa Kenny's and made some cider, which is always something that I have enjoyed doing. Dad says he has made about 150 gallons of apple cider this season, which is pretty amazing considering the dry spell that we have gone through the latter half of the summer.

An interesting thing about going home is that I always take home so much more than I bring home. Basically, all I took home with me was myself, a backpack, and a change of clothes. However, I brought home 2 dozen eggs, a jar of homemade apple butter, 1.5 gallons (3/4 of a peck, wet) of apple cider, a blanket for my bed, a jacket, 2 pairs of pants, 2 sweatshirts, a bear of honey, and a pair of sweatpants. Some things I needed; others I don't but am definitely glad to bring down.

Oh, by the way, Emily also picked out her bridesmaid's dress for our wedding, while Zach and I stood around for an hour in David's Bridal. The evening turned out to be a little bit more of an adventure than I had hoped for, but I definitely enjoyed catching up with my sister and brother-in-law.

Also, I got to catch up with Kristoffer, Dana, Karter, and Kaden. I haven't seen them in a while, but I am glad that they are back in Indiana so I will be able to see them more often.

Welp, that was my weekend. Hopefully something exciting happens this week! And Bob Ross is NOT from Muncie...who knew that was just the local PBS station carrying his national program?

Busy Bees

We've been busy little bees around here. What? You thought bees were dormant by now? Nope. One of my fellow classmates actually killed a wasp in our classroom today.

These past few days, Kyler and I have barely had time to see each other due to work, school, interviewing, student organization activities, intramural football games, and trying to get laundry done (oh, that might just be me).  Seriously, by the time we see each other, we're worn out. I complain about all the craziness going on. He listens patiently, and at some point in the conversation will say, "Kara, I've really got to go. I've got XYZ to do tonight." So we say goodbye and start the madness all over again the next day.

I'm ready for "bee" season to pass. Work is never done around here, and I've definitely kissed my social life goodbye. Sometimes, if I get home early enough, I get to ask my roommate about her day. Most nights, though, I just go home and do some homework, and pass out exhausted in my bed. I can definitely say that I wish someone would use one of these on me...

I want to go nestle inside my hive, forgetting about the outside world and just slurping up honey until my little heart's content. (AKA: lock myself in the apartment with nothing to do but watch HGTV and Food Network, and eat meals at decent times).

(All photos courtesy of the Not-Quite-Country Girl.)

Quad Cities

Aside: For those of you who are wondering (Mom), the Quad cities consist of Moline, East Moline, and Rock Island, IL, as well as Davenport, IA.

I have a few hours of downtime this morning before I prepare for the rest of the day of interviewing and traveling, so I thought I would take the time now to post a few photos of my trip so far. This will probably be the last post I will be able to make for about 10 days (midterms begin Saturday morning), so I am not sure if you will hear the end of the story for a while.

Anyways, I got put up in a pretty sweet hotel for the night in what they called a "mini suite". When I got to the front desk to check in, I asked if I was the only one staying in the room, and they kind of laughed at me. I understand why now (only 1 king-sized bed), but I am not sure I have EVER been at a hotel by myself. And (don't tell Kara this, she might think I want to travel alone my whole life) I kind of enjoy the space of being in a hotel alone.

My Mini-Suite "Living Room"

Fit for a King

Oh, and just in case you are wondering, yes that is a Sleep Number remote on the bed. And just to satisfy your curiosity, after careful testing, I think my sleep number is 50 +/- 5.

John Deere Pavilion

There was also this awesome Pavilion literally right across the street from the hotel. It had HUGE tractors outside and a ton of stuff on the inside as well. After posting, I am going to check it out (it is free, and it basically looks like a museum). Pretty pumped.

Nothing says "Midwest" quite like a water tower

The Mississippi (Island in the Middle)

Iowa is just across the way. Hoping everything today goes well. I will "keep you posted".

My seester and her meester

Kyler, me, Kelli, and Austin

God works in mysterious ways. He definitely had a hand in my seester's trip down to visit this weekend. I haven't had a free weekend since school started, and it seems that Kyler hasn't either. Kelli  either has volleyball practice or a volleyball tournament on Saturdays. Her boyfriend Austin plays college  football and has his games on Saturdays. But lo behold, this weekend, all four of us were free...or free enough to hang out for a while. And it was wonderful! Plus, it fell on the weekend before Austin's birthday so we got to have a party!

Kyler and I had our engagement pictures taken Friday afternoon, and literally as soon as we were finished and said goodbye to our wonderful photographer, Kelli called to say they were sitting outside my apartment complex. Perfect timing!

Friday night we all just hung out. (Read: eating pizza and cake and ice cream, opening presents, and playing one of the funniest games I have ever played). Here is our weekend through pictures:


Happy 19th Birthday Austin!

He was touched...Actually I think he was making fun of us for having Kleenex on the table

Telli and Austin

Kyler just couldn't handle all the excitement (mid presents time)

Kelli really spoiled him

These two are obsessed with Toy Story 3, hence Toy Story Operation

Playing games

If you ever need an impromptu game because no one has four AAA batteries for the Toy Story Operation, here is one that will keep everyone in stitches. Everyone gets squares of paper per how many people are playing. On the top piece of paper, you write a phrase or sentence. Then pass it to the person to your right. That person will then put the phrase on the bottom of the stack and draw a picture to describe the phrase. Then pass it to his or her right. The person who receives it will  look at the picture and then write a sentence or phrase that they think the drawing is trying to depict. Next person draws. Next person writes. And the entire stack of writings and drawings gets back to the person who wrote the original phrase. Then you laugh and cry about how your phrase was transformed into the most outrageous drawings and other sentences. My "follow the yellow brick road" turned in to "children playing hopscotch". My roommate's "Derek Jeter is a hottie" turned in to "Burn the Yankees". And Kelli dominated as her "Skittles, taste the rainbow" survived all translations and was the only original phrase to return the same. SO. MUCH.  FUN.

Saturday we toured the campus

Showalter Fountain

 Austin goes to a small Christian, private college. Upon approaching this fountain, I believe his comment was something to the effect of, "Now at AU, we aren't allowed to have these kinds of statues."

Then we found another, very detailed statue. Kyler thought we should imitate them.

Boys will be boys.

Watching the IU v. Penn State volleyball game
P.S. the player in the red jersey, the libero, is from our hometown

Because Kelli loves volleyball, and because I love IU and want Kelli to come here, we took her to an IU volleyball game. Again, it worked out that the volleyball game was between huge rivals, and the opponents are 3x national champions, and IU hadn't beaten them in 40 tries. Well, as it turns out, IU won last night. And I think Kelli should come to IU because its volleyball team is awesome...among other reasons.

I got to sit by the hottest attendee :)

Overall, we had a wonderful time with my seester and her meester. They had to leave Saturday night after the volleyball game, but I'm so glad they got to come visit for a part of the weekend. And if Sunday is any indictation of how our week is going to be, we're in for another busy one.

P.S. Keep Kyler in your prayers as he flies out to the John Deere Headquarters in Illinois/Iowa for an interview. 

CFO Roundtables

An update on my "flesh wound": It is feeling much better, and the inside of my lip is actually hurting worse than the outside where my stitches are. The stitches come out Sunday, and they haven't slowed me down - I actually played another intramural game Thursday night (2 nights after the injury)...and we won!

And yes, I know that my posts aren't always as "exciting" as Kara's, but such is my life...and right now my life is pretty much school (which, in turn, makes for posts that I am sure enthrall every reader).

In other news, I had an awesome opportunity this Friday, as 8 CFOs from large companies came down to share their experiences with graduate business students. Those in the crowd were: Whirlpool, FedEx, Berry Plastics, Kimball International, Simon Property Group, Ernst & Young, Boston Scientific, and Hillenbrand. Many of them are former IU grads, so they are definitely partial to Kelley students.

We had groups of students present cases before CFO judges, many of whom asked very difficult questions...I am definitely glad I did not present this week. Then we had time to ask the CFOs whatever questions we wanted. It was all a great learning experience, and I had two really awesome things come about from the event:

1. I was recently "preferenced" for an interview by one of the companies that came down, and my professor set me up with a one-on-one interview with their CFO to talk about job opportunities. He served as a naval officer during Vietnam, and he has been the CFO of 5 different Fortune 500 companies. He is extremely direct, and it was a great experience speaking with him.
2. A friend who works for an accounting firm took me aside after class and introduced me personally to another CFO, and the CFO said he would be interested in speaking to me about job opportunities, gave me his business card, and told me to send him "my stuff" and he would contact me later. Awesome!

Overall, our school is very fortunate that we can have this many business leaders come down to speak with students about their experiences in the business world. Just listening to them and hearing their backgrounds is a great learning experience that you just cannot get inside the classroom (debits and credits). It was an awesome day!

By the way, Kara and I both have interviews this coming week (and basically through the end of October)! I know everything will work out for the good (Romans 8:28), but pray that it will be sooner rather than later.