The Land of Lightning

Well I am finally in Tampa and things are under way! It has been a great experience so far and we have finally seen a full day of sunshine, which is awesome! We arrived August 22nd and spent the first two nights in a hotel because we did not have furniture in our apartment (it was being delivered by a furniture company). We explored the area, but also got some other stuff done for our apartment (unpacking, etc). We live on the third floor and I think we ended up carrying about six 50 lb. boxes up the stairs and one 75 lb. box up. Our arms are feeling strong!

Our apartment is nice. It is good for two people, but with all of the boxes and stuff we have for our events it is a little crammed, but it works. I took the smaller room so I could have a view of the bay. It is very pretty and right next to our apartment. We do not overlook the bay, but through my window you can see it.

It has been wonderful being so close to water and in a tropical area. It rained for the first week, or so, but now it is better. It is because it is hurricane season, but it is supposed to end soon (we think?) We have been on campus a couple of times and every time I go I am in awe. They have a pool on campus for students to lounge around and the campus is right next to the bay. Our drive there is beautiful too. We drive along Bayshore Blvd. (picture) which is full of huge houses and right next to the water.

This past Sunday we had some free time and went to Clearwater beach. It was amazing. It was only 35 minutes away and beautiful! We laid out for a couple of hours, walked around the area and then just drove home! This is going to be great here. Oh and there is a pool right outside of apartment (right outside of my window) so when we get the chance we hope to enjoy the sunshine there too.

We have been busy with meetings and getting ready for events. Our first event was a tailgating event (picture). It seems that there is A LOT of interest here in our organization and women are hoping to join it, which is great! We are very excited and everyone has been so welcoming and open, so it has been a good transition. Tomorrow we start our first big event, a sorority fair, where Lauren and I will be the only representatives from our organization (while everyone else will have six), but that is okay!

I will keep you posted on the happenings here, so far so good!

(Oh and Tampa is the lightning city of the world! Crazy lightning!)