The Levere Memorial Temple

Most people who know us know how proud we both are of our Greek affiliations. Jake is a founding father of his chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and it has played a huge part in our college experience. So in Chicago, when we realized how close we were to ΣΑΕ's headquarters in Evanston, IL, we just had to make the trip.

The fraternity headquarters is located at the Levere Memorial Temple. The Temple, completed in 1930, is a memorial for ΣΑΕ's many war heroes and a museum of Fraternity and Sorority history. It was named after William "Billy" Levere, an influential brother who first suggested the development of a Memorial, but did not live to see it's completion. The temple is located at Northwestern University and was designed by a brother of Northwestern's Illinois Psi-Omega chapter. The Temple's address is 1856, the year of ΣΑΕ's founding, even though the address is not in numerical order with the surrounding buildings. The distinguishing gothic style of the building and two gigantic lions that flank the entrance make the building unique and unmistakeable.

(shhh... don't tell, but I can't wait to be an ΣΑΕ wife...)

The Temple also houses the office of Eminent Supreme Recorder (the National Fraternity's Executive Director). Jake wishes this was his office.

The basement of the Temple is an assembly hall known as the Panhellenic Room. The entire room took 3 years to paint with murals and the coat-of-arms of 59 other Greek organizations in order of their founding dates. Alpha Xi Delta is one of the original founding Panhellenic sororities so I had high hopes of finding our crest there... and I did!

The lion inside the Temple is the casting of the lions from the entrance.

The Peace Chapel is on the main floor of the Temple and is one of the most beautiful rooms you will ever see. I seriously considered canceling our wedding plans so that we could be married there. The Chapel was created in memory of ΣΑΕ brothers who had served in wars since the Fraternity's founding. The most striking parts of the Chapel are the original Tiffany stained glass windows. The stained glass was the single most expensive piece of the entire Temple at a cost of $40,000 in 1930!

The Fraternity's museum holds pictures and memorabilia of famous ΣΑΕs, the first official pin, and the membership card of one of my personal heroes, the only female member of ΣΑΕ Lucy Patty.

The Temple has a stained glass window for every school with a chapter. We think San Jose State's is the prettiest.

Jake signing the guestbook.

William "Billy" Levere

Christmas 2009 in Chicago

It's a week after we returned from our holiday travels and we are finally rested up and recovered from all the excitement. Here are some memories from our White Christmas!

The gang hanging out in Downtown on our first day of sightseeing. We look pretty comfortable here, but the wind was FREEZING!

Hanging out in the swanky Ralph Lauren store.

Taking in the scenery.

Real Chicago stuffed pizza.

Jake always has to sample the local brew.

Family photo in the snow.

Really loving all this white stuff.

A tiny Chicago skyline at the Museum of Science and Industry.

After the snow stops, everything gets icy. These trees were completely covered, as if they were made of glass! I thought this was the coolest thing.

Christmas Eve pajamas at Aunt Dana's house.

We spent our Christmas morning under the hotel's display tree.

Jake and I call this hat my "ewok" hat. He thinks it's irresistibly cute and I don't have a problem with that!

Headed home to the Golden State.

After a long delay in the O'hare airport, Jake and I took a long nap.

Stay tuned for pictures from the Levere Memorial Temple!

I'm Terrible at Blogging: An Update

I've realized that I'm terrible at blogging. I'm worse at blogging than I am at scrapbooking. The problem is that both of them require you to step back from making memories, put them into words and paste some pretty pictures with them. Thats a challenge for me. Most of the time I'd rather blast forth, head first at light speed into life and making more memories than scribble them down... and it makes my blog so sad! Thats why I'm getting a head start on my first New Year's Resolution... improving my blogging skills. Lets get started with an update...

We just wrapped up the Fall semester and it feels so good! It was Jake's last Fall at SJSU, so it was a little bittersweet. I'm sure it will be weird a year from now when he is leaving for work and I'm still going to class, but I'm proud of him. Bonus, graduating from San Jose State in four years flat is a MIRACLE these days... his commemorative plaque is in the mail. We finished our finals yesterday and we're confident we both did pretty well.

Jake carrying me through the Fall semester.

Those cute Fall boots don't always feel so nice!

Another reason I got so far behind on my blogging is that I moved mid-semester! I'm currently living in the studio apartment that Jake and I will share after the wedding. We are really excited that this will be our very own place. It's one of those bedroom/main room, kitchen/living room, bathroom/closet kind of places, but it's cozy. I didn't spring for cable, so we spend a lot of time cooking, talking and watching movies. It's been a fun way to spend the beginning of our winter, which has been icy cold (for California). I really think that the new

apartment deserves more attention, so stay tuned and I'll do a whole post on it... complete with pictures.

I took on a brand new opportunity this semester and became a colony member of the newest sorority on campus, Alpha Xi Delta. Our motto is "Realize Your Potential" and I've always believed that the purpose of a sorority, when carried out correctly, was to enhance the skills, confidence, knowledge, morals and lives of the women who joined. They must have seen potential in me too, because they appointed me Colony President. Its a full time job representing and guiding 45 beautiful and talented ladies, but I love them all and that makes it worth it every single day. Its also great to know that my fiance supports me and understands my desire to build this organization. I think he's proud that I'm following in his footsteps, since he was a founding father of the California Zeta chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon just a couple of years ago and has kept the dream going since. No pressure on our future children or anything... but Mommy and Daddy are both real go-getters (and they better be legacies)! Our colony will officially be installed as a chapter at the end of January and I'm sure it will be an amazing start to our Spring semester.

Some of my Best Friends and Brand New Sisters.

The in-laws finally met over Thanksgiving and, surprisingly, there was a lack of fireworks. Everybody got along and our mothers chatted the entire weekend away. We took my parents to see the wedding location and now I have a sneaking suspicion that my mother is planning a coup. I've been told we ARE having a big cake, lots of flowers and a chocolate fountain.

You'd think we would do some relaxing over break... but the fun never stops with us! We are headed off to Chicago with the Curtis Family in a couple days. We are going to be visiting Jake's Mom's family and staying through Christmas. It's my first time really visiting Chicago and I'm excited for the sightseeing, shopping and to freeze to death in 20 degree weather. As soon as we step off the plane home, we'll pull an all-nighter down to Orange County for some late Christmas celebrations and New Years with my family. We figure we only have to keep up the back and forth until we have our own kids... then the grandparents have to come to us! We promise to upload pictures and news from Chicago and Southern California as soon as we can.

Well, I'm all blogged out now, so I think I'll wrap it up here. Check back soon to hold me accountable for my promises!

Wishing all of you Peace, Warmth and Rest,

Tobi

Yowzahs!

This is my baby working on his baby (a '72 Skylark).

Um, Hello? Can you say... "Most attractive thing EVER"?

3 Reasons Why October is the Best Month

October makes my heart do a fluttery thing. I wait for it. I count down to it. I cherish it. I pray for it to go by slowly. Don't get me wrong, I believe that a lot of the other months have good qualities too, but I think it's safe to say, October is my favorite. Here are some reasons why:

1. October is like the Gateway Arch .

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri is the tallest monument in the the United States and part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. It was finished in October of 1965 (coincidence? I think not.) and is known as the "Gateway to the West". It commemorates an era in which Americans, standing in St. Louis Missouri at the edge of "civilization", looked westward in anticipation of the opportunities and advancements they would find there.

So here we are, standing on the edge of October, and you know what? Looks pretty good going forward. I mean, we have Halloween (see #3) coming up, then a watershed of other great holidays that mean time with your family and friends, time off of work and school and, let's not forget, great food. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year... all the holidays that get us through the cold months... well, thanks to October they get a nice little welcome.

Now, I'm not saying it doesn't take a little sacrifice. Louis and Clark didn't come through to the other side unscathed and you won't either... the holidays will probably suck up your savings and ruin your diet, but guess what? You'll love it the whole time.

Luckily, if you're standing in St. Louis in October, you can probably make Christmas in California. After that, I highly suggest making it a round trip... New Years in Boston is hard to beat.

Last New Years at Boston Common.

2. October means a weather adventure.

Alright, so this one might not apply to anyone reading this from Utah (hey, Morgan!) or Hawaii (Kylie!), but October in Northern California means fun weather. You can usually count on the mild beginnings of Fall. The days are still warm, but there is a crisp, cool breeze, the trees turn gorgeous colors and the night gets a little bite to it. All of that means breaking out the cute scarves and jackets, new fall boots and just enough hot cocoa and cuddling days to make your weeks a little brighter.

If you are lucky, you'll get a couple days of interruption from your surreal Autumn fantasy for a nice big storm! We had one this month and it provided the perfect opportunity for some first rate puddle jumping. So, you might have to start checking the weather report before you get dressed in the morning, but I'm a firm believer that variety is the spice of life.

Megan and I taking advantage

of a motorist's worst nightmare.

3. Halloween!

Modern Halloween is the most unique holiday of the year. It doesn't commemorate some historical event, it's not about religion and it doesn't really involve gifts. The rest of the holidays you spend huddled up with your own friends and family, which is great, but the only interaction you get with strangers is when you're at the store battling for the last can of cranberry sauce (oh, don't act like you wouldn't trip someone to get a Honey-Baked Ham). On Halloween you take your kids to the doors of complete strangers and ask for candy! To make it even better... they give it to you! How wild is that!? Halloween is one night a year that's all about community.

To take my point a little further, look at Halloween from a kid's point of view. For the major holidays we make them dress up in stiff fancy clothes, visit old people, and be extra careful not to get messy at the longest dinner of their young lives. Now, look at Halloween. It starts off with "You can be whatever you want." Fireman? Yes. Indian Princess? Yes. Sea Turtle? Why not? Then we throw in, "You get to stay up way past your bedtime and run around the neighborhood" and, of course, "You get to eat more candy tonight then you will get to cumulatively for the rest of the year." You want to see real holiday joy? Check out the smile on an eight year old with a sheet over his head and candy hands stickier than fly traps running around with his next door neighbor. Beat that Thanksgiving.*

I could go on and on (I haven't even started in on Homecoming), but I think you get the point. Bottom line: there are 10 day left in the best month this of this year. Don't waste 'em.

Counting down 'til the next October,

Tobi

*Disclaimer: You may not share my sentiments about Halloween if you didn't have an awesome and Halloween-obsessed mother, like I did. If your mom didn't make every one of your intricate costumes (from circus performers with ponies to ears of corn) from scratch or bring in gigantic "Freaky Feast" Halloween lunches for your whole class (complete with jello brains and finger sandwiches) then you probably can't understand what I'm talking about.

Engagement Pictures!

Here are the rest of our Engagement Pictures.  We love them!  

We had so much fun on our photo shoot in Sacramento with Ashley!  

Yay for Cain Photography!

Check out http://cainphotography.blogspot.com/