Friday Photo Fiesta: My owl family

Say what you will about college sororities. I happened to love mine, the Sigma Alpha Tau Owls, of which I was a proud sister from 1996–2000.


This picture shows two-thirds of my Owl family. Left to right is: my pledge, Shauna; my grand-pledge, Kristen; me; and my great-grand-pledge, Kristen (and her little man, Will). Not in this picture are my other two wonderful hooter family members: my active, Jessica, and my grand-active Becky.

While some colleges offer a national sorority experience (ie: think Delta Delta Delta, can I help ya help ya help ya?), Otterbein has one of the oldest and largest local Greek systems in the country. We still had Greek houses, but they were quaint and only slept eight rather than 30. We paid dues, but they were a nominal $50 a quarter rather than hundreds. Instead of focusing soley on drinking (although we certainly did) or on living up to stereotypes on TV of snobs circling the fat on their pledges (we never did!), our sisterhood revolved around community service and leadership development. Perhaps most important is that the Owls made it their business to be a close group of gals. Our motto was "Stick Always Together" and boy howdy we meant it!

I think it's entirely wonderful that a full eight years after my graduation, I still see all six ladies from my sorority "family" on a reasonably regular basis. These women are amazing individuals, and I feel so blessed to have them in my life.

One such way we keep up with one another is through regular "Game Night" gatherings with our hubbies (this is the younger four ladies of our clan). We rallied the troops last Saturday for that reason, although we were shy two husbands, and we never got around to playing any games. No matter, it was just fun to be in each other's company.


Will wasn't impressed with the guest list at first. He was content to nap on his boppy until Noah startled him awake later.


Somehow Clay always ends up playing beer-bottle games with Noah. Could be that Clay likes beer... and Noah likes the bottles.


This is Lola (aka: Woh-wah!). She took a real punishing from Noah all night, who just LOVES doggies. Thanks for being a good sport, girl!

Punkin (Shauna) got in some mommy practice with Will. No babies on her horizon yet, but I bet it won't be too long until she hops on the bandwagon.


Will looks like he could spend days staring into KPJ's eyes. Look at that expression on his face! I think he's in love...


This is a rare moment: Noah paused long enough for me to take his picture, capturing his cheesy face, of course. Having adult gatherings with your 17-month-old in tow is challenging, to say the least. I appreciate that my chickies never complain about the madness!

Now, dust off your family photos—whatever family that may be—and post them for the kind folks playing along with Candid Carrie this week. Rules and regulations available via the link below.