UIFI
Well the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute 2005 for me is over... and it was better then ever! I learned more then I have any other time, and had a great time with the other facilitators and the students. It was a ton of fun and I can not wait to do it again next year! For those who do not know what UIFI is... it is the premier leadership development program for fraternity and sorority members. The program covers every angle of being a good leader, from being courageous to holding people accountable, and even about living the values of all our organization rituals. It is a powerful program and I am glad to still be able to be a part of it. Of course a photo recap is in order...

We were at the Alpha Xi Delta house at Indiana University.

The house was amazing!

First up on the agenda... ice breakers!

Can't break the ice without water buckets!

Or Hoolahoops...

Students came from all over the country and all types of groups.

This one time... at Greek Camp... we ate together, worked together, and played together.

Lots of writing... contemplating... made some long 12+ hour days.

Puzzles and riddles.

Large group sessions.

One day we go out and do community service.

And of course... no Greek event is complete without... Togas.

Long days... means early mornings and lots of coffee.

There is that water bucket... poor Nolan.

One on One Consultations.

My group for the week... Chapter 1!

Me and Lorena (Gamma)

The last night we went out... Bowling!

The other half of Chapter 1, Sandi my cofacilitator.

No matter what people say... Bowling is always fun.

Chapter 1 dressed up for graduation.

What travel blog is not complete... without a picture of cheap gas prices.

So that was my trip folks... it was a great experience. I love to see that students are still working on solving the problems in fraternities and sororities and that values and integrity are still important on our college campuses. PEACE and LOVE!

Now I am back... tired as all get out, a lot has been going on... I wrapped up a contract with Lambda Theta Alpha and I will be speaking at their convention at the end of the month. I am excited about that. Today at work I was offered a free campus apartment as part of my job next year... got to work out the details but that is sweet and I am pumped. Work is surprisingly busy right now, but that is good cause I am working on some cool projects right now. Things are good... well except for the Pistons get stopped... hopefully Tuesday they will pull out a win.

Deja Vu
Thursday night... Rich Street in Allendale... cornfields... Beta Party... man it was a weird replay in my life. Thursday the Betas threw a party for Ramiro who was returning from 6 months in France, and for Oso who graduated and is moving to IN. Lots of Brothers turned out, too bad Ramiro didn't... we had thought he got detained in customs. Eitherway it was a good time and next time we plan a surprise welcome home party for someone we'll make sure they will actually make it home.

The Betas and Champange... Stay Classy.

No Beta gig is complete, without Gammas.

Some Sigma Kappas rolled through.

Oso got some cake in the face.

I took Friday off work... but ended up having to run in for a lunch meeting. I was asked to be on the search committee for Albion's first Director of Institutional Equity. I did not want to miss the first meeting so I swung back to Albion for the meeting. Then I wrapped up some personal things and headed to Chicago.

Chicago was fun but Saturday was the worst storm I have seen in a long time. Just before going shopping with Novali there was a warning about thunderstorms. We figured no big deal and headed out. While Tamara was in T Mobile and Novi and I were in the car the storm hit. The rain hit so fast, and so hard that trees were bending nearly to the ground, carts raced throughout the lot and slammed into cars (luckily not mine), and the wind was so strong it rocked my car side to side. It passed in about 45 minutes... and we shopped. Some new Old Navy summer outfits and two pairs of shoes... she is ready for summer!

Novi wore a dress for the shopping trip.

Ready for bed and learning to catch.

I taught her to eat chips and salsa and watch sports..

She showed me how she writes her name!

I love how smart she is getting and understands a lot more. Plus she has become a good story teller... and then... and then... and then... Tamara and I talked about schools. More then likely we will not put her into a preschool... her day care is pretty much preschool already. But we are looking at schools for Kindergarten, and if we decide to do a private school applications for next year will start as soon as this September. Since Tamara just got a job at the University of Chicago she would get a great deal on their Lab School. I don't know much about Chicago or their school system... so I need to start researching. I do know that there are some awesome private schools out there. So we will see what pans out...

My drive home was insane! Chicago storm part Deux hit in the middle of my drive. Some spots the traffic was going 10 MPH... and then in Kzoo a Tornado warning went on! Since I was heading East I would outrun the storm, and then it would catch up. I finally put some distance between storm and I before getting into Albion... as I got my bags out of the car... it hit Albion. Now there are trees all over the street, straight up crazy I tell ya.

Well hope the summer storms slow down and then summer fun can get officially rolling. My mom flies to Bolivia this week, I head to Bloomington, IN for my second time facilitating UIFI, the Pistons are still going, some weddings, and then hopefully some fun trips planned to finish off the summer (Indy, San Fran, IKEA-Chicago, Seattle?).

OverDue
No... I did not forget to return videos again... this weekend I got a speeding ticket. I know I should know better, especially since it was memorial day. I got a ticket for going ten over on the highway... but I guess I am overdue. I have not had a ticket in about two years, and since I drive about 20k a year, the odds were against me that I would get a ticket soon.

I got the ticket on my way to Lansing. Heather I hit up the Cristo Rey Fiesta in Lansing. Usually a huge Beta hangout... Oso, Ramon, Santi, Zach (GV Neo), Ricardo, Santos, and some old skool brothers. It was fun, ate some good Mexican food and saw a ton of Gammas as well. It was a ton of fun and my third night in a row hanging out with Betas, good times.

The rest of the weekend was super relaxed. Got a ton of stuff done. Helped Heather apartment shop in Jackson and like any people who wanted to avoid traffic this weekend... we hit up all the memorial day sales and stayed close to home. Some great stuff for cheap... including a new Palm Pilot (Tungsten E2)! Lots of laid back afternoons... walks around Albion... turkey sandwiches... avoiding laundry... and leaving my phone at home (I will call those of you back later today, I was trying to be on "vacation" this weekend).

Today for some reason is my busiest day so far of the summer. I have meetings schedule pretty much all day, I have a project for AFA due today, WRGA web updates needed, and even a 6pm meeting... and I thought no night meetings in the summer.

Tonight I need to take apart my MAF on my Sentra again... took my car to AutoZone and seems like the one they gave me was faulty. So I get to work on my car again... which is fun and I want to see that Service Engine Soon light off again!

Beta Times
Living in Albion has often left me on the sidelines of a lot of things going on in Beta world. I am not near many Brothers and can rarely have the free time to just catch dinner with someone. Yesterday I got an email from Vic and he got the chance to head out to NY. He was not having luck finding a job, so he figured why not... So on short notice he is leaving, I figured I better get to Kalamazoo and wish him luck. That is what is nice about this summer... slow at work and I can take my nights and drive to see people. We chilled at the Wayside, ate some of their great Buffalo Chicken Nachos and 50cent drafts and watched the Pistons waste some great opportunities.

The game was great, the food hit the spot, and chilling at Wayside with my Brother Vic was the best way to spend a night. We talked about our chapter, my duaghter, his family, the old days, and what he plans to do with himself in New York. I bounced out early, filled my tank with 1.99 Gas (I was excited!) and got some rest.

Tonight I get to do the same thing... Gary is back from Germany and I want to catch up with him. We are planning dinner in Kalamazoo at one of our old hangouts, and then of course... what else do Betas do on Thursday? Latin Night at Club Soda! Some of the Gammas and GV Betas will be coming as well. It will be a nice time to hangout, but I of course will have to leave early to get home and rest for work. I am excited to see them all.

Finally... on the Beta front... last summer we launched our new magazine called REGO. We are about to send out the second issue and they just kicked off the website. So check out the official REGO Mag Website and let me know what you think. It is looking like it will be a huge success.

Three day weekend here we come!

Construction
As usual the last few days involved a lot of driving. I am annoyed with the constant construction in Michigan like everyone else. But what annoys me more is that they never seem to fix the roads that are the worst. Some of the roads they are working on I thought were in great shape... and then others which are full of black bumpy patches are left untouched. Who picks what road gets worked on? And whoever it is needs to get fired. Well... enough raving, here is my weekend recap.

Went to see Novalí on Thursday night. She was excited to see her papi and was ready to play. I love the flexible summer schedule I have so I can plan out some vacation time and go places when I want. It was nice to spend a Friday with Novali instead of my typical Saturday or Sunday. Everything was slower, the stores, the park... we had it all to ourselves. Of course with the weather nice we can finally walk around more. Here is a photo recap of the visit:

She likes to pull her socks over her PJs... says she is a baseball player.

Thursday night she opened some gifts my primos in Bolivia sent her.

Friday we woke up and made pancakes.

She was a great little helper.

We played her Finding Nemo video game, she is learning to use the computer track pad.

She loves walking and balancing on curbs as we walk... Novalí the tight rope walker!

Our usual trip to the Dollar Store was a ton of fun.

The playground was fun as always, and she got all dirty...

One of our dollar store finds was some bubbles!

She blew bubbles and chased them all over.

Saturday it was back to Michigan... it is was finally a nice day to drive. Megan, one of my best friends from WMU, was having a birthday party and Heather and I wanted to attend. Megan just got a new place in Royal Oak and I have not seen it yet since I missed her house warming party. Royal Oak was always where the two of us went to hangout, it is a great area and I am glad to see her enjoying her job and loving where she lives.

We shared some old stories and caught up. We were quite the pair in college.

Some of her friends from work and roommates.

Sunday it was a planned quick lunch in Royal Oak with Nat and Chris. We got caught in the rain walking, the food was horribly slow at Pronto (hum...), but it made for a relaxing time. We chatted about grad school, changing jobs, and moving. Typical talk for people in their mid 20s. Scary...

Today was the Association of Fraternity Advisors Michigan Drive-In conference. Hosted by none other then yours truly. It was a lot of work to set up because all of our campus space is being used for orientation. I got creative and decided to use a fraternity house for the meeting. It worked great! Heather's tip to have some air freshners was a big help, and so were some table cloths and industrial cleaning supplies... the meeting went well, good turnout, and got to catch up with some old faces. Wrapped up the night watching Dodge Ball with Jen, and now off to bed. Orientation season is in full swing at Albion and tomorrow I get to watch it in all its splendor. Good night.

Traverse City
So I finally started taking some of my vacation time... no my trips throughout the year are not vacations, those are considered work... This past weekend was Blossom Days in Traverse City and I thought it would be a great time to see the Cherry Capital, do some wine tasting, and relax from a long school year (The students are gone!). Well... the weather did no cooperate much, but it was a great trip. Of course a recap is in order.

Friday went to Saginaw to see the family. Heather had a family baby shower in Flint on Saturday so it worked for her to attend that and for me to hangout at the Case de Centellas. My dad just got back from Bolivia and had pictures of where their retirement home will be, and Raquel brought Valerie over which was great. My grandparents came over as well, and they were all off to a family baby shower as well.

Valerie all ready to go to the baby shower.

My parents have a robin nest on their deck.

Saturday drove to Traverse City. It was looking hopeful for a little bit... the sun was shinning, the percent of rain was going down. Regardless the weather was bad all weekend, but the trip was still well worth it. I had not been up there since I was in high school playing travel soccer. It has changed a lot, but still very scenic and the downtown area was very well maintain with a lot of little boutiques and locally owned stores and unique restaurants.

The weather was gloomy, but with some hot coffee the views were still enjoyable.

The downtown reminded me of Holland, MI.

That night we checked out North Peak Brewing which was recommended by of one of friends from up there. It was a nice place, good food, and their microbrew was really good. The downtown area seemed alive, even in the off season and looks like there is a lot to do there for the late 20s crowd.

Sunday some shopping... to get something warm for the very cold weather (it barely broke 50). Then a stop to the Mackinaw Brewing Company for lunch. Some great homemade rootbeer and a perch sandwich there and it was off to wine tasting! The Chateau Grand Traverse was sponsoring the Blossom Days Festival and since it is one of my favorites that was the first stop. There were a lot of small vineyards up there, and thankfully to the bad weather no lines anywhere! At least the bad weather is good for something.

The views and blossoms looked great. Some amazing homes up there!

Chateau Chantal was another great wine there.

The wine tasting was a lot of fun.

The cloud cover did provide a very interesting sunset.

So that was the trip... it was back to work yesterday. Slow season here, means lots of catching up. I also am working on the regional Association of Fraternity Advisors (AFA) meeting I am hosting here on Monday. Very excited for that and looking forward to seeing some of the Greek Advisors from Michigan again.

What's coming up? Well Thursday I roll to Chicago to spend a couple days with Novalí, and then Saturday night is a reunion with my friend Megan! It is her Birthday and she is having a get together at her new place in Royal Oak. So I told her I would swing on through. Lots of driving again... but that is what summer is all about! And despite the fact that it still wants to be rainy spring, I am pretending it is summer!

Final news... Bev Centellas... my Mother... has joined the Blogosphere. Please welcome her to cyberspace. Mom's Blog.

Where?
Willmington... where is that? Deleware... what part? It's near Philly...

It's easier to tell people that I am going to the Philly area, no one knows where Willmington, DE is.. Anyways... that is where my brother lives and I think it is just a beautiful area and I am very jealous of his location.

It was a great trip. Jen had to head out there to pick up her car that broke down out there on her last trip, and it worked great for her to visit her sister (lives north of Philly) and for me to visit Andres. My mom was heading out there for Mother's Day since my dad is gone to Bolivia, so it was a nice short family trip. Here is the brief play-by-play:

Jen and I drove on Thursday to Pittsburgh to break up the driving, and also cause she needed to pick up her car. I have heard good things about that town, but we never had anytime to stop and see the city. Next time. On the drive to Philly.... her car started acting up again... so the saga continues... but that is another story for another day...

On arriving to Philly we went to IKEA to meet up with Andres and Saloumeh. I love that store! To many peoples surprise it was my first time. As a design student I studied their furniture and everything, I just never made it to a store, so it was great to finally get to one. Then Jen took off her with her sister and Andres, Saloumeh and I went into Philly to a get a drink and bite to eat while waiting for my mom to arrive. Mom got in, and after the airport run we just got some coffee, some desert and talked and caught up. It was great.

Jen dropping off her rental (blue) and getting her car... she thought it would be done...

Andres lives in a cool old neighborhood in Willmington, close to bars, video stores, and great food.

Saturday, we slept in a little and after a nice lunch with a bunch of his DuPont coworkers we headed to some wine tasting. It was a beautiful day outside and driving the countryside was a amazing. Rolling hills, old estates, brick homes... I can see why he loves the East coast. It was very relaxing, we took our time and just enjoyed a nice slow Saturday afternoon, which ended with a big Centellas family nap... classic. We all love to pass out late afternoon on vacations.

At the small tasting room at the Paradox Vineyard.

Outside enjoying some wine at the ChadsFord vineyard.

Andy's cat Mona.

Pumpkin and I.

Sunday was the big day. Andres planned a trip for us to this old estate called Winterthur for a horse racing and show event call Point to Point. It was a beautiful old estate and had to be over 10,000 people there. The best way to describe it was tailgating for the high class. Everyone was all dressed up, the women in big floppy hats and spring dresses, the men in white khakis and polo shirts... drinking wine from a table behind their Cadillac Escalde. It was very nice... and had some interesting events and sitting out in the sun all afternoon helped me get a little tan (I have the watch tan line to prove it). We sat out on the lawn, drinking a white zinfandel, eating crackers and paté, and enjoyed another nice afternoon in the beautiful sun.

A bagpipe band marched through.

Andres and Saloumeh.

A heard of Dashounds... or is it a flock?

A parade of old horse drawn carriages.

Of course some horse racing.

No Andres and I did not coordinate our outfits.

Afterwards we had dinner, took mom to the airport and then I met up with Jen and packed up the Focus and hit the road. We stopped in Pittsburgh again to sleep and Jen caught up with her friend. Monday we also stopped in Oberlin to see her friend Kevin (Jen knows people in like every city in the US). I met Kevin before so we chatted about his job search, where he wants to move, and of course a little about Greek life.

Jen and I made it back into Albion just in time for the 5pm Student Affairs end of the year BBQ. Some brats, some potluck (I brought Chex Mix as usual) and some end of the year relief with our coworkers. It was very good. My long trip ended with taking out the lawn mower and finally cutting my grass... it was nearly knee deep. Tonight I finishing unpacking, and then plan what to pack for Saginaw and Traverse this weekend.

Summer is here, and I love it!

What?
The weather has been crazy, my schedule all frazzled, and my students are all moving off campus as I write. I am enjoying wrapping up my first year here at Albion College, saying goodbye to some of my seniors, and see you next year to the lower classmen. It has been a great year and I am very excited about this summer, my vacation time, and planning for 2005-2006!

So what has been going on? Why have my blogs been so sparse and far between? What happened to all my pictures I used to ppost? I been busy. No excuses just results, I know, I know. So here is what has been happening in my neck of the woods...

Novali, well my last trip out there was a riot. She is developing little sayings and doing the funniest things. The new funny feature is that she is now Trilingual. Yes... when I was there she got mad and start making these funny sounds... I asked what she was doing, and she quickly replied, "espeakin' Chinese". I was luaghing like crazy which made her more mad and she did it even more... Ching Chang Chow... TOO FUNNY!

She loves her little soccer net, she made me yell GOOOAAL.

She would walk around the house looking through her binoculars.

When spent a lot of time on puzzles, building her spacial intelligence.

Of course the tub shot, building my future blackmail material.

Work, lets see... I am the proud new owner of the 14th Edition of the National Panhellenic Conference Manual of Information. Only a Greek Advisor can get excited over that... but the real exciting part is that the Green Book (what the book is called) is now also available on CD ROM! The students moved away, and my fraternities are in the process of closing their houses. I went and saw Sigma Chi last night closing their house, and the amount of crap was unreal! Next year I will help them sooner with planning how they will move.

So for those Panhel Ladies who had pages memorized... they are all new now!

So my car... new rims... new MAF... but that light went back on! Oh no...

Last weekend was graduation time at GVSU. I went to see the CSAL gang graduate and hangout. Hermen and I had some time to chat and hangout over some fun pink drinks with Dre and Heather on Friday. Saturday was graduation and Hermen and I hangout at BDubs saving tables for everyone. It was fun times with some of the CMU gang that arrived and families and of course the CSAL reception (I pretty much missed mine, so this made up for it). Then we had a great night downtown, saw a bunch of different places and just had a good time.

Some photo ops on GVs campus.

In the VIP Lounge at 48 West.

So that is what has been happening. Some fun outings, fun work, and fun with the little one. This coming weekend is a trip to Philly with my friend Jen from work. Her sister lives north of Philly and my Brother lives south. So we figured we would make the roadtrip together. My mom will be out there as well, she loves visiting that area so it will be a fun Mother's Day out there with her and my Brother. Then when I get back, no students and just time to get work done! I am very excited. Got some more May and June trips planned (Traverse City, Bloomington, IN, Indianapolis, San Francisco, and maybe Orlando) and then just relaxing!

Take care everyone! Have a good Cinco de Mayo (no big party this year...) and go outside and enjoy the nice weather!

Pictures...
Somehow when doing the back up on my computer when I got it back I lost some pictures... actually... I lost a lot of pictures! I am still looking through my back ups to see exactly what all I lost. So far I know I lost my 300+ pictures of Greek Week 2005... and some recent Novalí pictures and what not...

What I do still have, and just posted is pictures for an update to Novi's site. So that is good. I have her pics from her birthday under the Pictures link, and also her Four Year Old professional photo, very cute. Check her out at: Novalí's Website

This week was off to a good start. I had a great weekend in Chicago with Novali. Monday was the Less Than Jake concert and that was a ton of fun. Tuesday was a quick catch up day. Today was very laid back cause we had the Union Board "Stress Free Zone" downstairs and I got an awesome massage. Tonight I have the TKE Pig Roast (YUM!) and then my last Panhel meeting for the semester. I love the end of the semester events!

This weekend is graduation time at GVSU. I got a lot of friends graduating. So I will be in Grand Rapids with friends and families. Oso (Miguel) from GVSU is graduating and I have to see him so that will be fun, and of course Heather is planning an outing to BDubs for graduation and Hermen and I will be grubbin' on some wings! We just got to try and not get any sauce on our shirts... always happens. Also will be hitting up the CSAL reception, I mean I barely made it to my own (I did not walk in commencement and arrived for the last five minutes of the grad reception) so it will be cool to be at this one.

Well off to the pig roast...