Deep Dark Secret
I think it is time that I let my deepest secret out. I can not hold it in any longer folks, it is time that you all found out the truth about Sam. Most of you will not believe this at first, but I will explain and then you will understand. To those who know me best, I know it will come as a shock, but I have to let this off my chest. It has been a secret I have held for way too long...

I am a sale shopper. Thats right folks, I love nothing more then hunting around for deals. You are in shock... It is as hard for me to say as it is for you to believe. Not sure when this started, but a few years ago I found myself getting overly excited for getting a deal on a DKNY dress shirt, or some Kenny Cole shoes. Now I can't go shopping without finding that deal I can be proud of all week. It has gotten so bad that I rarely can bring myself to pay full price for anything. This from the guy who used to brag about how much he spent on his wardrobe, so today I am here to say... I am a changed man! Now I dig through sale ranks at Marshall Fields, stop at TJ Max to get ties, and wait for the Express sale before getting more MX dress shirts.

Let me tell you about my recent sprees:

Banana Republic: $13 polo shirt Gap: $9.99 linen shirt, 7.99 v-neck IZOD: $25 Brown casual shoe.

M.Fields:$12 CK dress shirt Kenny C Store: $19 Leather Flips Express: $19 Khakis

TJ Max: $9 Express jeans Macy's: $9.99 DKNY Dress Shirt Meier&Frank: 40% off Kenny C pants.

Pic of me yesterday: Adidas shoes $25, Kenny C Khackis $16, and the Quick Silver Polo I got on sale in Cape Cod.

As you can see, even yesterday, while sitting in the airport I was wearing all sale stuff. Man, I really am an addict. Is there a place I can go to get help? Do I want help? No, I like this. Will I always be like this? Maybe, I have learned how to work the system (shocked right?) and I like it.

So I got that out, and I feel good. I am still high maintenance though... Ha!

I hope all of you are over the shock now so I can give you some news. I have found my place in Albion. Here are two pics of the place I am going to get:

Less then half a mile from campus, and I love the big porch.

I finally get a garage, little but still a nice home for the NX.

The cool thing about the house is that it is for sale. So... if I like it enough, and want to stay at Albion for that long... I might be a home owner pretty soon. Wow... I hope I get a good deal on it... you know, being a sale shopper and all.

Alright, I got to get to my WRGA Board meeting. I love being in San Francisco, but I do wish I was back home to see Hermen today on his birthday. Happy birthday bro, and thanks for offering to help move my stuff. See you all soon... at my new place in Albion, wearing sale clothes.

270 Gallons of My Life
I had a whirlwind 24 hour stop in Grand Rapids to pack up my stuff. I will not be here when the guys help me move my stuff so I needed to get a lot of my stuff packed up for them to make it easier. There is a still a lot more to do, but I got nearly everything in my room packed up.

I bought some rubber tubs for moving. All in all I filled up over 270 gallons of rubber tub. That is a lot of stuff. I have accumulated a lot of things over the past couple of years. Moving is never a fun thing, but at least I know I have all the furniture I will need and nothing makes you feel at home in a new place like old familiar furniture.

All my rubber tubs and a few shoe boxes filled with my stuff.

My closest which was once stuffed to the top now sits empty.

My cluttered desk now has a clear top and empty drawers.

I did not get to somethings... like the storage room or cleaning the kitchen.

Getting ready for a new place is always exciting. I made some calls yesterday on some rental property. I am looking for a little house to rent. I would love to have a garage. Rent in Albion is very cheap which is great, so I hope I find something for a good price and all the space I need.

Today I am back to the grind. Early morning flight from Grand Rapids put me into Oregon before lunch and now I am working. I have been up since 3am PST and will work until 6pm. AH! I only have three weeks left I need to get into high gear and get all of my projects finished up so I can leave with some accomplishments under my belt.

Alright... this thing called work is calling my name. Adios!

Convention Ups and Downs
The 2004 Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. Convention was another historical event for our great Brotherhood. For me it was filled with many ups and downs. First was that the GVSU Colony was not given chapter status, but will be granted it this fall once they start their new membership education process. Which is good because they were "conditionally" approved. A down was that I was not elected to the Board of Directors, I knew it was a gamble when I started. I am an opinionated Brother and sometimes my views are unpopular. At least I know that I say what I think, and unlike the rest of the "political" Brothers I don't hold back a comment because some people might disagree with it. I do my thing and don't look back.

The big up was.... GVSU won the Outstanding Colony for 2002-2004! I am so proud of them, I nominated them and I kept my fingers crossed. Those guy made me so proud I can barely describe in words. They are following another proud tradition... my chapter when we recolonized we went on to win Outstanding Colony for 1998-2000. I am expecting big things from GVSU this fall, and of course from the Epsilon Chapter as well.

Lets see the pics:

In return for me doing 5 workshops at convention my Headquarters hooked me up with a free room with a great balcony!

First night with Max and Hermen from the GVSU Colony.

The Brothers hung around my room a lot, seen here: WMU, Miami(OH), CMU, GVSU and Wichita State.

One of the WMU Neos, I am expecting big things from this Brother... big things.

During Convention I was in the middle of my negotiations with Albion College. I wanted to be sure I made the right decisions and wanted to weigh a lot of things out. I made the right decision during the middle of convention. I start there on September 7th and I could not be more excited. I am confident I will be able to accomplish big things there.

The last night of convention, once all the business is over, we had our banquet and dance. This is where the awards are given out and ends with a little gig. Check it out:

Mary Peterson, our Executive Director started the night off. We would not be the organization we are today if it was not for her.

MOA! The Michigan/Ohio Alliance of Brothers, now known as the East District of SLB was well represented.

Everyone gets dressed up and ready to celebrate a successful year, good meeting, and be presented with the new boards.

GVSU with Ammar the International President getting their award.

We have a special award for Brothers. Salon de Hermanidad inducted its 8th member, Brother Dough. I hope to have as successful a career as he is having in SLB.

The dance was crazy, hot and tons of fun. I was glad I got to chill with so many Brothers.

I am right now sitting in the lobby of the hotel. Getting some work done while I await my flight back home. I will spend tomorrow in Michigan packing up a lot of my things and then back to Oregon for a day before flying out to San Francisco. These will be my last couple trips before I settled into my new job.

Convention was amazing, I love sitting here and not being able to type because I have too many Brothers and Gammas coming over to say bye. I love my fraternity, for what it has done for me, what it does for our community, and what it will continue to do in the future to shape the views and culture of college students all over the country. We are doing Big Things, and I am proud to be a part of it.

The Britons
I spent two days in Chicago and spent the most amazing time with my family. My grandparents from Bolivia are visiting and I met the family there and took Novali to see them. It is the first time they have met her, and I am glad they got the chance.

My Abuelitos are the best, they are getting old (late 80s) and I are so strong and vibrant still it amazing me. From the stories of abuelo hanging from a Mango tree, to abuelita and the crazy airport drama on the way here. They now have meet their two American great grandchildren and I know they could not be happier. My abuelo has not stopped talking about how tall the Sears Tower in Chicago is...

Of course we swam, ate, and caught up. Novali took a little time to warm up to the abuelitos, but not much time. I did not get any pool pictures this time, maybe my dad will send me some and I will post them. Here are a few shots of my family time in Chicago.

My abuelitos have not been to the USA since 1994 for the world cup.

With the old Centellas men... my Dad and Abuelo had tons of fun with her running around.

With the Centellas women: my mom always is trying to teach her new things, and Abuelita sang some old children songs in Spanish with her.

When they dropped us off Novali showed her toys to Abuelo, and then the family took off.

I am glad I got to spend sometime with the family in between all my trips. I am planning some time in Saginaw with the family at the end of August as well.

Currently I am in Orlando at my Fraternity Convention. In one hour we start our business meeting at which someone will be elected as our new Vice President of Finance. I am hoping to be elected... wish me luck.

Oh, for those wondering... I am going to be a Briton.

Around Oregon in 48 hours
Three day weekend, 1200 miles on a rental car... hold on.. didn't I do that last weekend in the Midwest? Well this time it was in Oregon. I have officially seen everything this state has to offer, so now I can leave and be happy that I saw it all. Lets recap the roadtrip weekend.

Friday Night
A vineyard tour and tasting, more sand dunes, big RVs, some old town shopping and the smallest scallops ever.

King Estates was huge and the rows and rows of grapes were amazing.

The ground were perfectly manicured and this would be a great place to have a reception.

The view on the dunes was great, it was a hit day and the ocean really helped cool the air.

Sand between my toes.

Old Towne Florence was very scenic and reminded me of the old lake side towns in west Michigan.

The old boats added to the rustic touch... but the seafood restaurant was nothing specially... tiny scallops.

Saturday
Glide Oregon, a lost camera, Diamond Lake, Crater Lake, Willamette Pass, a Gondola, Covered bridges, a sunset and music at Taylors.

The drive south wound along the Rogue river and had awesome views and winding roads which made it fun to drive on.

After having to go back and get Becky's camera she left at a store, we stopped to some awesome views.

Diamond lake was so smooth, makes me wish I still water skied.

All the pine trees reminded of that artist guy.. the one who painted happy trees. What was his name?

On the way to Crater lake there was snow! I had to jump in it barefoot.

Crater Lake is an old Volcano, now it is one of the deepest lakes in North America.

Mountain ranges surrounded the location.

The water was a shocking blue mixed with green.

The Willamette Pass ski lodge is open all year.

The Gondola ride to the top revealed some long distance views.

All day spent looking for a covered bridge... and this one you could not even drive through.

Sunset. We called it a day and went to the famous campus spot, Taylors.

Sunday
Homemade cobbler, St. Helen Burger, lots of bikers, a big blowed up volcano, regrown trees, and accidentally finding the Oregon Brewmaster Festival.

The family run dinner was great. St. Helen burger=Burger, fried egg, ham, and all the fixin's. Yum.

Not nearly as scenic as I had hoped, the history in the park was cool though and so was the drive.

As we drive into Portland we saw a little festival happening. So that means bands, and old people trying to dance.

They had microbrews from around the world... even Michigan!

In Oregon people are either shirtless or on stilts. Standard.

Brews and Porta-Johns. A match made in heaven.

People could put where they were from... someone was already there from Santa Cruz!

Of course... I ate... pizza, and teriyaki chicken, but they ran out of elephant ears!

The weekend was great. I am tired but the travel continues... this week I head to Chicago and then the weekend to Orlando, FL. Yes I know... I don't like to stay still in one place. I am looking forward to more traveling. Not looking forward to starting to pack of my place in GR... now where will I move it to is the question... stay tuned for important updates.

My abuelitos are great! Novali is being fun and we are about to jump into the pool, again. So I got to run. I will update about my time in Chicago soon.

IntroDUCKtion
This weekend was a blast... Crater Lake in the South of Oregon, Florence on the ocean, Mt. Saint Helens in WA, and the Oregon Brewmaster Festival and Portland. I will be posting pictures soon of the adventure. For now an update from Greek Life...

The summer orientation program here is called IntroDUCKtion (Oregon mascot is a Duck). Greek Life gets to put on a presentation, have information tables, and give tours of a house (fraternity and sorority). I get the pleasure of helping to coordinate the Greek involvement. Of course this is the first major time they will get to recruit potential new members and get to set parents minds at ease about their son or daughter going Greek.

I field a ton of questions (which is tough being how new I am here) from parents and make sure the students are getting the correct information. Students come with their parents to orientation here, about 70% of students bring their parents. I find that strange coming from Michigan were I don't know of schools that would have such high parent enrollment in an orientation program. I like it though. Most parents went here and it is an excuse for them to visit and check out all the changes... "I remember when" stories all over the place.

The first couple sessions were packed with people interested in Greek Life. Many were legacies (meaning someone in their family is Greek) and some had friends who were Greek. I of course took some pictures and figured I would let you all see one of my summer projects.

The fraternity info table gets lots of random questions, the students study up on Greek facts before hand.

The sorority table spends most of their time explaining what the Formal Recruitment Process looks like.

Our office is open letting people register online for recruitment right on the spot.

The morning presentation is very intersting... Flash.. pictures... all the fun stuff.

Numbers are up, way up. I really motivated the guys to push hard during IntroDUCKtion to sign guys up for recruitment (most days we had more guys then girls helping). They are very lax here about recruitment... I am trying to teach them effective techniques to get guys committed to checking out Greek Life. I got big plans for them during my short visit, hopefully we can accomplish some cool things before I go...

Speaking of going, today I fly to Chicago. I spend two days there and then buzz off to Orlando for my convention. On my return I will spend August 2nd in Grand Rapids getting ready to move my stuff, and then back to Oregon for work. Ah... so much traveling, so much work, so much fun, and so little time!