Wingate University

Some days are simply awesome...and that was the case when we rolled into Wingate University. The staff, the students are simply amazing. We met so many incredible folks on this visit including our Alpha Gamma Delta sister Christine as well as our new home girl Jessica. As always, it is an honor to do this work but this campus made today day particularly memorable.

Always-
Becca and Kelly

Kick'n it with the Wolf Pack

We had a chance to visit one of our favorite states and meet some really amazing athletes. It was an honor to work with the female athletes at NC State, fondly referred to as the lady wolfpack. These women play hard! Several of them came to the program with giant ice packs taped to their limbs, ace bandages wrapped around their ankles and knees, and one of them was sporting a new pair of crutches. Woah! That's serious sport my friends and probably one of the reasons collegiate team sport never found its way into my life, that and my lack of athletic coordination and skill, not to mention my on-again-off-again relationship with the gym. I admire them for their dedication! Thank you so much to our new friends at NC State for coming to our program, bruises and all.
Always,
K & B

How "IT" came to be.

Once upon a time on a road trip to our spiritual home of New Orleans, Louisiana, we pondered our place in life. We asked the question “how are we going to make the world a better place?” A lofty goal, we know, but never short on ambition, we pushed the discussion forward. Kelly, a social worker at the time, had a deep passion for helping others in need. Becca, a theatre major with a flair for the dramatic, needed a creative way to express herself. Together we had a strong commitment to our campus and community…but what was our purpose?

It was there, in the darkness of I-10 west, that we uncovered our mission. One of us is a survivor of sexual assault, the other a supportive best friend. This traumatic experience forever changed our lives and now would give us the chance to make a difference in lives of young people throughout the nation. We recognized the opportunity to share our story and empower students to revolutionize campus climate and culture. Deep down we knew that if we stopped making students feel guilty for being sexually curious or sexually active, we could unite them. Not men against women but together, men and women as a campus community. We believed that if we simply explained what sexual assault is and how we can prevent it, change would occur. So as we crossed the Louisiana state line…Let’s Talk About “IT” was born and this incredible journey began.

3 Day Walk

(My 3 Day Team, "Body Allies" Me, Katie, Lisa, Kim and Debi)
After 3 days and 60 long miles, we still smiled for a photo at the finish line!

I did it, 60 miles in 3 days! After months of training and weeks of worrying and excitement I can’t believe it’s come and gone. As strange as it sounds, it was kind of sad for it all to come to an end. The weather was perfect, the people were awesome, the pit stops were so helpful and even the snacks provided on the route were delish! My feet got some damage for sure. I now have 3 blisters per foot. Ouch. The hardest part: the end of the second day. I have never been more physically exhausted in my entire life. The best part: the extraordinary support from the volunteer crew and folks from the community who came out to show their support. I got so used to people cheering and honking that when I went to the grocery store on Monday and did not get applause, I was slightly disappointed and a little depressed.

The spirit, passion and strength of everyone involved were like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It was truly beautiful. This was an incredible journey. Thank you so much to my friends and family for your amazing support and generosity. I could not have done this without you.

I believe that a cure is within our reach, within our lifetime and with each event complete and every dollar raised, we’re several steps closer to a cure. Three days of walking. Three days of friendships made and stories shared. Three days of blisters and sore muscles. Three days of kindness. Three days of the world the way we wish it could be.

Love and hope,
Kelly

Flashback

Ok, so yesterday I turned 31...so this was really a flashback. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Always-
Becca

You Know You Grew Up In The 80's or Early 90's if
1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE.
2. You watched the Pound Puppies
3. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do the Carlton
4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own.
6. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.
7. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom
8. Two words: Hammer Pants
9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock"
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars... and spokey-dokes or playing cards on your spokes for that
incredible sound effect
11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales" (Woo ooh!)
12. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
14. You saw the original Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles on the big screen..and still know the turtles names.
15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
16. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
17. You played the game "MASH"(Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
18. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.
19. L.A. Gear....need I say more?
20. You wanted to change your name to JEM" in Kindergarten. (She's Truly Outrageous.)
21. You remember reading Tales of a fourth grade nothing and all The Ramona books.
22. You know the profound meaning of WAX ON, WAX OFF"
23. You wanted to be a Goonie.
24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing.
(some of us...head-to-toe)
25. You can remember what Michael
Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks
shifted.
26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
27. You took lunch boxes to school...and traded Garbage Pailkids in the schoolyard.
28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
29. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.
30. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.
32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up.
33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship
bracelets.
34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.
35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?"
36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.
39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.
41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.
42. You remember Popples.
43. Don't worry, be happy
44. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.
45. You wore socks scrunched down (and
sometimes still do..getting yelled at by younger hip members of
the family)
46. You remember boom boxes and walking
around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.
47. You remember watching both Gremlins
movies.
48. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!"
49 You remember watching Rainbow Bright and & My Little Pony Tales
50. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha
Micelli was hot.
51. You remember Alf, the lil furry
brown alien from Melmac.
52. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool...and don't even flinch when people refer to
them as "NKOTB"
53. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell," The ORIGINAL
class.
54. You know all the words to Bon Jovi -SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
55. You just sang those words to yourself.
56. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird.
57. Homemade Levi shorts.. (the shorter the better)
58. You remember when mullets were cool!
59. You had a mullet!
60. You still sing "We are the World"
61. You tight rolled your jeans.
62. You owned a bannana clip.
63. You remember "Where's the Beef?"
64. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?"
65 You had big hair and you knew how to use it.
66. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!


ROCK ON!!!

Grand...

Courtney(left) and Stephanie(right) with their advisor Jessica(center)

We recently discovered that many things are referred to as "grand" in Michigan and that definitely goes for the Take Back the Night event at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan as well. It was truly an amazing event with so much impact, all put together by one of the coolest group of students we've had the pleasure of meeting. The students involved with Eyes Wide Open at Grand Valley are doing remarkable things for the campus community. It was an honor to work with the students, walk with them in the march and especially to listen to two young survivors speak out for the first time. The standing ovation they recieved from the audience was a sign of the support that could be felt throughout the room. We were deeply moved and inspired by the young ladies who shared their personal stories tonight. You are beautiful, courageous, strong and powerful women. We are so proud of you! Thank you so much for sharing a part of yourself with us.
Forever grateful,
Kelly & Becca

BAMA!

If I could do it all over again, I think I might want to be a bama girl! We were at the beautiful and enormous University of Alabama yesterday. What a gorgeous campus with historical charm and the appeal and ease of modern world conveniences, the main one being that they have a full out Publix on campus. Those of you, who live in the southeast, truly understand the magnificence of a Publix grocery store. The bakery alone is sheer splendor. This was an exciting discovery for us Publix loving gals indeed. Then we found a nail salon, hair salon, tanning salon- so many salons all in one place and all on campus! And just around the corner a smoothie shack, Kinko’s/UPS, book store (of course), restaurants, bars and even a dance club or two. Greek row happens to be right across the street from the stadium. Sweet! No cars needed at Alabama that's for sure!
(UA Student Services Center)After checking out the greatness that is the University of Alabama, we found our way to the Student Center ballroom for our program. We had the pleasure of speaking to 1,000 new members of sorority life at Alabama and got a chance to visit with one of favorite students from SEPC, Julia. What a great day! We are incredibly lucky and forever thankful to be doing the work that we do and to have the chance to meet so many wonderful student leaders like Julia. Thanks so much for the opportunity sister!

Bama girls at heart,
K & B

Luck is on our side...

Picture- At Grins with the lovely ladies of Panhellenic

If it's true what they say about crickets being lucky, then Texas State University could quite possibly be the luckiest campus we've ever been to! We heard it was "cricket season," a season which we had honestly never heard of before our visit to San Marcos, but it became hugely apparent soon after dusk. We had to be careful to watch where we stepped, because there were literally crickets everywhere; seriously. It was truly bazaar.
Enough about the crickets, we don't want to lose focus of telling you all about a truly amazing group of women we met while visiting TSU during this fabulously lucky season. : ) The smart, beautiful, respectful, polite and of course extremely hospitable ladies of Panhellenic at TSU were so good to us! They really made our visit a memorable one. We spoke to about 500 awesome sorority women. The energy in the room was empowering in its own right, the Greek women at TSU rock. Having the chance to work with this amazing group of women was an honor and another reminder of how lucky we are to have THE coolest jobs ever! The lovely and talented women who make up the Panhellenic Executive team invited us to join them for dinner after our program at this great local hot spot which is known for their $1 Margaritas. Yes, only $1, we could hardly believe it ourselves. No margaritas for us this time, but the food was excellent and the company was even better! (P.S.-Visitors of the lone star state should not be permitted to leave without partaking in some superbly delicious Tex-mex… hmmm, hmmm, good!) Not only did we have a great time talking with them about Greek life, Tamara's fear of crickets, Recruitment, life after college and the importance of taking advantage of every single minute of your collegiate career (God, I miss college), but we also had a chance to learn more about the new campaign they've started at TSU called SUAVE (Students United Against Violence Everyday). A fabulous name for an important cause; you go girls! We look forward to hearing how your first week of SUAVE events turned out.
Still feeling lucky,
K & B

Nacho, burrito, what's that up in your Speedo?

This is one of our favorite sing-a-long songs which we happened to learn while waiting tables at a Mexican restaurant years ago. Waiting tables, well, not so good. Sing’n in the kitchen, awesome! Come on; give it a try, we think you’ll like it too. It goes a little something like this: Nacho, burrito, what’s that up in your Speedo? You’ve got trouble, on the double… (then we usually just make up the rest). Fun, right? So why are we singing this oh so memorable and delightful song you ask? Well, its a little celebration of our minor on the road accomplishment, well I guess we can call it an accomplishment. We started our day in the Houston airport where we enjoyed a tasty Mexican treat, breakfast tacos. Yummy! In honor of delicious Tex-Mex throughout the land (especially in Texas) we decided to challenge our pallets by sticking with the taco theme throughout the day. You may be thinking, wow, that could get tough, but hey, we’re dedicated! So, for lunch, we found ourselves at Kirby’s Café, a hip local diner serving traditional Austin cuisine. This place was artsy, quaint and fabulous and we thoroughly enjoyed our bean-n-veggie tacos. Mucho Delish-e-oso. When dinner time rolled around, yep, you guessed it, tacos! The perfect ending to a truly fabulous day! The simple things in life make it so much fun.
Adios for now,
K & B

Success, friends and sadness.

Ok so today my pal Shawn's book comes out. I feel like I know a celebrity since everywhere I turn, there is another review of the D-Man's book (all good of course). So that makes today exciting. Besides, Shawn and wife Gwenn would make great celebs. It would make my buying the magazines that I know I should not buy a less guilty pleasure.

Naturally, I am psyched about tonight's Grey's premiere. I cried my eyes out watching the finale last night. This show is so good. My husband came into the room to see what was wrong. I love the writing and the development of the characters. So strong. But, mostly I cried because of the dog- Doc. For those of you who do not know, my dog fell very ill this summer and had to be put to sleep so watching that is still awful. However, giving the week I have had I found the flowing tears a therapeutic release and helpful.

I also chatted via this cool tool myspace with an old high school buddy yesterday. It was his birthday, "Happy Birthday". Tony is a guy who I always really liked and respected in high school and was sad that over time we had lost touch. No more thanks to this age of instant gratification.

Coming off a crummy week, I have to say that the next few days look amazing. Our Godson is coming to stay this weekend for his birthday and has no idea my better half is taking him to Tallahassee for a football game. He will be wicked pumped. Then I take off with Kel for a few campus visits that we could not be more excited about. The women we have chatted with there are out of this world. We are looking forward to learning and working with them.

In reflection I guess what I learned this week is, when someone or something gets you down you have two choices. 1. Either learn what you can from it and use the pain and anger to propel you forward or 2. let it erode who you are and subsequently let them win.

We went with 1.

Much love always-
Becca

Kitty City!

We have our first little break in the semester and we’ve been home all week, it’s a good thing, because it’s kitty city at Casa de Addington! My husband Court and I recently became the proud foster parents of 5 adorable baby kittens. Court rescued 5 abandoned kittens earlier this week and they're currently living in our guest bathroom. They seem to be enjoying cuddling up on blankets in the bathtub. (Sweet as peaches picture attached.) The little babes are so adorable and super sweet! They’re pretty fragile and understandably scared and nervous, but all of them are extremely gentle.
I contacted an amazing completely volunteer run agency, CAT CALL which rescues and cares for cats and also manages cat adoptions. Tonight, I took the in for their first check-up and we found out that we have 3 girls and 2 boys! We also learned that they're only 3 1/2 weeks old and they weigh about 13 ounces each. Tiny, tiny little lumps of love! Their guesstimated and now "official" birthday is September 1st. Just today, they've started to meow and play. They're becoming very social with each other and even with us. I don't know how much longer we’ll be able to keep them confined to the tub, but for now, its working. CAT CALL asked us to keep them until they’re 8 weeks old and ready to be adopted. How could we say NO?! The next 5 weeks should be very interesting, especially for my cat, Abby!

Proud foster parent of the fabulous five,
Kelly

Time with T.J.

Today was great, our mentor was in our hometown and we got to break bread with him and see him speak (always a treat) at The University of Tampa. He finally met both our husbands and gave us a big thumbs up- not that we had any doubts.

If you do not know T.J. or have not have the chance to hear him speak...PLEASE check him out on myspace or through CAMPUSPEAK at www.campuspeak.com. He will make you laugh and make you think.

Always-
Kelly and Becca

PS- The gorgeous gal in the photo with us is Casey the Director of Greek Life at UT.

Our Famous Friend Shawn

We were sitting on a plane in Baltimore waiting for the flight crew to replace what the pilot referred to as, “some minor navigational equipment” (thank God!). Becca was reading the USA Today and I was focused on a highly entertaining and newly important task of creating a wrestling name roster. What is a wrestling roster you ask? We weren’t really sure either, but we decided to strategically and creatively come up with wrestling names for some of our friends. We sometimes do imaginative, albeit strange things when we’re bored (read more about this on our blog entry titled, “A dog named Wonton”).

Anyway, I had a few names done and Becca gets all excited. I’m thinking, wow, she’s really into this- this is going to be fun. But, she was excited because she was reading the Life Section of the USA Today and our buddy Shawn, who we will now refer to as our Author friend, Shawn Decker and his book, My Pet Virus: the True Story of a Rebel without a Cure were mentioned in the new Books section of the paper. Awesome! But, not at all surprising. Now, if you have not promptly left this blog to purchase this masterpiece, may we suggest you do so very soon?

Seriously, Shawn way to go!! We will definitely have to work a bit harder on your wrestling name, to be sure it’s worthy of your celebrity status, but still relatable, humorous and edgy, just like you.

It's Fashion Week in New York

The students at Skidmore College reinforced why we do what we do. They took the Let’s Talk About “IT” message to a whole new level by taking it to the streets of campus, spreading the word and engaging the college community. The Skidmore peer educators were decked out in t-shirts that were made to spread the word about our program and more importantly, to get students to talk about “IT.” A special thanks to our sunshine sister, Carli for the t-shirts and for making our visit to Skidmore possible. Students like her are our inspiration.

8 to 1

8 to 1. A statisitc we learned during a recent visit to Berry College in Mount Berry, GA. So what does 8 to 1 mean exactly you ask? Well, let me tell you, it's 8 deer to every 1 student at Berry. Yes, I did say deer. Like, the one's that scamper through the woods. It was a surprise to us too! Kind of strange for us city girls to see deer straight up chill'n on campus. But they certainly fit right in and there's plenty of room since the campus is on acres and acres of gorgeous Georgia soil!
The campus was beautiful and the students were awesome (and beautiful too). We had a fabulous time at dinner with a very dedicated team of peer educators. Thanks for the good times ladies and keep up the great work.