Getting to Know Kara

Meet our Secretary – Kara Kenny

Collegiate Chapter & Year Initiated Lambda Eta 2005

Most Memorable AOII Moment… The night I got my bid. My new sisters came to my dorm, waited in the lobby and sang AOII songs to us (a friend that lived across the hall got a bid too). It was magical.

What does AOII mean to you… Having a sister and a friend anywhere I go.

Family (IIOA, Legacies, etc) My husband Mike (Sigma Pi) and our newest fuzzy addition – our dog Stella.

Interests/ Hobbies/ Talents… I LOVE Disney, crafting, and planning (I make lists for lists), and Disney half marathons.

Occupation… I work at the corporate office for Winchell’s Pub & Grill, Jackpot Joanie’s and Gin Mill – doing a little bit of everything!

My dream vacation would be…. Somewhere exotic and tropical with my family.

My super power is… My Disney knowledge… I can make nearly anything have a Disney connection!

My greatest achievement has been… Running the Tinkerbell half marathon alone, my husband had trained to run with me, but was unable to attend. I drove, ran and went to Disneyland all on my own. It was exhilarating.

Something that no one knows about me is … I can’t do butterfly stretches… my knees/legs go right to the ground. No stretching for me!

My favorite food is … Chocolate, no doubt.

The 3 things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island are … My husband, our dog, and computer with internet (to order food and wine!)

My secret crush is …  Adam Levine

Up next will be Crystal Quibell! 

Getting to Know Marie...

Meet our Founder's Day chair - Marie Sassman 

Collegiate Chapter & Year Initiated Sigma Rho 2002

 

Most Memorable AOII Moment… There are so many… one of the best has to be getting sung to after getting my bid and then going dorm to dorm the following year to sing to the next  generation of girls.

What does AOII mean to you… Life long friendships with lots of unique and wonderful women

Family (IIOA, Legacies, etc) My husband Eric and son (3 months) Evan

Interests/ Hobbies/ Talents… I love to draw, paint, do crafting, and bake

Occupation… I was a performing arts teacher for 5 years and a third grade teacher for 3 years. Currently I am staying home with my son Evan.

My dream vacation would be…. It’s a tie, either NYC at Christmas time or Greece

My super power is… Being friendly

My greatest achievement has been… I grew up in remedial programs and could barely read until third grade. Though it was extremely hard, I never gave up and became a teacher so I could  inspire other struggling children to do the same.

Something that no one knows about me is … Even though I’m super outgoing and talk in front of large groups of students for a living, I am terrified of public speaking.

My favorite food is … Thai / Chinese food

The 3 things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island are … My husband, son, and I-phone

My secret crush is … I always tell my husband there is a new man in my life, my son, Evan!

Thanks Marie! Next up will be me (Kara Kenny).

Getting to Know Stephanie

Let's meet our co-vice president Stephanie Baldi...

Collegiate Chapter & Year Initiated: Sigma Alpha 1997 at West Virgina University

Most Memorable AOII Moment:  Initiation.  I had no idea it would be so emotional and meaningful but after a long semester and meeting such good friends it meant so much to me.

What does AOII mean to you: Friendship and Fun – I have made some of my dearest friends from AOII

Family (IIOA, Legacies, etc): My real cousin is an AOII from Penn State and my real sister is and AOII from the same chapter

Interests/ Hobbies/ Talents: I love crafts, I don’t really have a lot of time do to them but I am the queen of projects   

Occupation: Sr. Advisor for Artist Management at Cirque du Soleil (HR field)

My dream vacation would be: Traveling to Europe for 30 days and traveling all over with my husband

My super power is: Making people feel welcome – it has just taken to me.

My greatest achievement has been: Having two children they are the best things in the entire world.

Something that no one knows about me is: I still have a blanket and I got my nose pierced when I was 20

My favorite food is: Mexican

The 3 things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island are: My children, Mexican food and lots of WINE!

My secret crush is: It’s a tie Superman and Captain America

Up next is Marie Sassman.

Getting to Know Beth

Beth Diehl is the next sister, she currently serves as co-vice president.

 

Collegiate Chapter and Year Initiated: Grand Valley State University Lambda Eta Fall 2002

Most Memorable AOII Moment: My initiation and the chapter retreat.  (held at Cassie’s parent’s house!).  I loved learning Ritual and had such a great boding time with sisters and became a lot closer with  my pledge class and the whole chapter.

 

What Does AOII mean to you: AOII is always there, though sisters, words and phrases, symbols and more.  There are things that remind me of AOII daily and I love that. 

Family: Fiancé, Jason.  Jezz- 9, Angela- 2 (3 in November), the pups- Tippy, Ace and Chloe, and the cats- Needles and Kayla. (All rescued pets :) 

Interests/Hobbies/Talents:

I’m a huge dog rescue advocate and volunteer at a local no-kill shelter

I’m a huge Red Wings fan (I’ve even drank out of the Stanley Cup!)

Occupation:

Fitness Director at Spa Southern Highlands

MVP Fitness Co-Owner (Personal Training and exercise information sharing company)

My Dream Vacation would be: Somewhere fun and relaxing where I could have my  family(including the dogs) and extended family that I don’t get to see nearly enough! 

My super power is:

Making dinners that satisfy kids and my meat loving fiance! I’ve mastered splitting a dish in two with meat protein in one and veggie protein in the other.  And  I’m (slowly) starting to write a cookbook!

My greatest Achievement:

Driving across the country with just my dog and cat to move from  Michigan to a job  in California.  Met my man out there and the rest is history! 

Something that no one knows about me is:

Seeing people brush their teeth completely grosses me out.  It’s all I can take not to gag when I help my daughter… 

And, although I’m pretty quiet and shy at first, especially in groups I’m really not!

My favorite food is:

Too many to name!  I’m vegetarian and love to cook and experiment with new recipes.

The 3 things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island are... family, iphone, FOOD

My secret crush is... No secret that  it’s Bret Michaels!

Our next sister will be Stephanie Baldi!

Getting to know Cassie

Next in our series of Getting to know is Cassie, our chapter treasurer.

Collegiate Chapter and Year Initiated: Grand Valley State University Lambda Eta Fall 2000

 

Most Memorable AOII Moment: My preference during recruitment.  When I went through that I knew I was an AOII and couldn't wait to join the amazing group of women.

 

What Does AOII mean to you: Sisters wherever you are.  Knowing that wherever you go you will always have a family

 

Family: Husband, Jason Price (OX) Legacy Anna Price (almost 2) Plus 2 dogs and 2 cats

 

Interests/Hobbies/Talents: Reading, attempting to be crafty, but I have no known talents

Occupation: Stay-at-home-mom and a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts. (Blogger side note, Cassie's true talent is the photos she takes of her pets and daughter Anna, they are amazing... see a few below!)

 

My Dream Vacation would be: Relaxing on a beach with an endless supply of fruity drinks and chocolate

 

My super power is: organization

 

My greatest achievement has been: Managing to stay somewhat sane while being married to an airman and moving across the country and raising a family away from Michigan where our families are.

 

Something that no one knows about me is: I'm terrified of birds (I don't think anyone here knows that)

 

My favorite food is: chocolate, cheese and diet coke (But not together)

 

The 3 things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island are... an endless supply of books, a comfy bed, and diet coke.  

 

My secret crush is... Bruce Willis 

 

Our next sister will be Beth Diehl! 

AOII Tea Party

Yesterday afternoon was another wonderful meet up, we gathered at English's Quintessentially British Pub for an afternoon tea, complete with hats, scones and some delicious chocolate covered strawberries.  A fun time was had by all and it was a nice way to continue meeting and socializing with sisters. 

Can't wait for our next event which will be a bit more on the saucy side!

Getting to know Tamara

Welcome Back! Just as the new school year is starting so is a new AOII year, while the Collegiates are going through Recruitment and getting to know their new sisters we figured it would be fun to do the same with the members of the Las Vegas AOII Alumnae Chapter! To kick it off we will start with the E-Board, first off is our fearless leader & President Tamara!

Name: Tamara Abernathy (initiated name Pond)

Collegiate Chapter & Year Initiated: Sigma Phi Fall 1996 (Cal State Univ Northridge) I was a sophomore when I pledged.

Most Memorable AOII Moment: My initiation retreat.  My chapter has the parents write a letter to their daughters.  This was the changing point in my relationship with my mother.  Not only has AOII given me so many wonderful sisters but also bridged an ailing gap in my mother-daughter relationship.

What does AOII mean to you: A built in family no matter where I am. No matter how different my sisters are, we all share a common bond.

Family (IIOA, Legacies, etc): Spouse, James

Interests/Hobbies/Talents: NKOTB, movies and TV junkie, coffee, bowling, concerts, plays, and I have no known talents.

Occupation: A little of everything but mostly finance, mortgage, real estate related

My dream vacation would be: Skiing in the Swiss Alps and curled up by a fire with my loved ones (on my bucket list!!)

My greatest achievement has been: Always staying true to myself.  I pride myself on making my own decisions, learning the hard way when necessary, and forging my own path.

Something that no one knows about me: I have tons of patience.  I could stand in long lines, deal with mean or stupid people and still be calm as a cucumber

My favorite food: Mexican and Sushi but not together.

3 Things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island: Chapstick, a knife, my ipad (with solar power charger)

My secret crush is: Don’t know how secret it is but Donnie Wahlberg

Next up will be Cassie Price.

On another note I hope to see you all next Sunday (September 9th) for our AOII Tea Party, here is a link to the invite on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/267175610060857/

Please don't forget this will be the last event where we will be collecting donations for Sisters for Soldiers.  But members of the E-board are willing to meet up with you to collect :) 

Back to AOII

Hopefully you've all had a wonderful summer! Mine was full of work and a little bit of sun. 

Last night was a much needed AOII reunion of sorts - BACK TO AOII, a wonderful dinner spent catching up and meeting new sisters.  Dinner was at Bottles & Burgers in Tivoli Village. 

Many were missed but I hope to catch up with you all next month at our Tea Party!! Details to come, but I'm going to give you a heads up start looking for hats.

Below are some pictures I took, I completely blanked during dinner and forgot to get a group shot!

 outside the restaurant 

Beautiful Tivoli Village

See you all soon!! 

 

Roses, 

Kara

AOII Presents at UNLV

 Last night was AMAZING!!!! AOII had the great privilege of presenting at UNLV; currently the panhellenic group at UNLV is looking to expand the sororities on campus.  The presentation in my opinion was a great success. 

 Question and answer segment

 After the presentation several sisters gathered at Firefly for a celebratory dinner,

 hopefully there will be more of these to come in Las Vegas

 Cheers :)

 

 The ladies enjoying dinner

 Take 2

 

whoops!

clearly we all enjoyed our meal

It was so empowering to hear the women from nationals share with other greek women what AOII means, our history and why we should be on UNLV's  campus.  It refreshed my love and passion for this organization.  I truly hope we are welcomed to UNLV and as soon as we hear anything you can trust it will be shared here!

Founders' Day Bruch

To celebrate the founding day of Alpha Omicron Pi, January 2, 1897, every year collegiate and alumni chapters gather to "stop and measure how closely the fraternity had come in actively performing the tasks each member had accepted when she was initiated into Alpha Omicron Pi." This year our celebration was held at Garfield's in Las Vegas.

 Tea & pastries started the day

Tamara announcing awards won at convention 

and recognition for individual sisters achievements.

Program from Founder's Day  

Marie & Beth celebrating 10 years of AOII

"Alpha Omicron Pi, Friends as the years go by, 

Loving sisters are we, Loyal forever, Alpha to thee."

Las Vegas Arthritis Walk

 October 1 was an amazing event here in Las Vegas.  It was the annual Las Vegas Arthritis Walk, this year it was held at Lake Las Vegas (a change up from previous years).  

Sororities and Fraternities often adopt a philanthropy to work with, fund raise for and raise awareness for the cause. Alpha Omicron Pi's philanthropy is the Arthritis Foundation.  Both collegiate and alumni chapters participate in functions and fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for arthritis research.

"Alpha Omicron Pi’s International Philanthropy supports Arthritis, Juvenile Arthritis and related diseases. Since 1967 when we adopted the Arthritis Foundation and Canadian Arthritis Society as our international philanthropy, over one million dollars has been raised by AOIIs to help researchers find a cure for this crippling disease that, so often, targets women as its victims. Chapters also donate time to countless local community projects to benefit children, the elderly, the less fortunate, and others." -AOII Service

 Aside from the event being for a great cause it was lots of fun.  It included either a 3 mile walk or a 1 mile family walk.  Before the walk got started there was plenty of time to meet with different vendors, get a massage, grab some breakfast and socialize.

the registration table

 walk down to the water where the walk began

 start of the vendor area

 Cassie enjoying her free massage courtesy of Massage Envy

 More of the vendor area

 the views during the walk, they were wonderful!

 SISTERS!!! back l to r - Me, Cassie, Kelly & Susan

front - Kelly's wonderful children Josh & Sophie

Can't wait to see you all next year at the walk! Thanks to everyone who raised money for such a wonderful cause!