Monday, May 24, 2010

party in the O-HOUSE

oh hey friends. i bet you’re wondering what’s been happening at the o-house. and the answer is nothing. well, that’s not entirely true. word on the street is that landlord dave is redoing the floors. can i get a PTL? now if we could just do something about the driveway…

but seriously, everyone is gone for the summer. (insert sad face here.) and some of us, unfortunately, are gone a little more long term. but we’re not talking about that. we’re talking about how the o-house girls went out in style… with one of the most legendary parties to ever occur in manhattan. what’s that, you say? i’m exaggerating? take a look at these pictures and then decide.

mood lighting: check.


dancing: check.



Katie pooler attempting to evade a NINTH concussion by wearing a football helmet: check.


o-house tribute pics: check.


hottest FSHS graduates of all time: check.


boys who travelled from another state to be at our party: check.


nine hundred million pictures of jayne long pretending to be lady gaga: check.


horrified party guests: check.


super excited party guests: check.


sorority girl impersonations: double check.


keira (and maybe me) being sassy: check.


marion griffin dancing so hard and so beautifully that she was on the verge of tears: check.


Jacob starkey: check.


miley cyrus’s party in the usa: check.


yeah, it was pretty amazing. too bad you weren’t there. unless you were, in which case thanks for coming and helping the o-house girls celebrate the end of another epic year!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

pop quiz: how well do you know keira masters?


*keira proudly displaying her MOTW plaque. don't look too closely at the inscription.


it’s that time again (long past that time, actually)… time for a new o-house member of the week (MOTW)! this week’s lucky winner is the only remaining o-houser- keira masters!

with finals approaching, and whatnot, i thought it might be fun to have a test that doesn’t require a #2 pencil. and it’s not really a test. you could maybe call it a quiz… the point is, it isn’t very long and it’s super fun and if you know keira at all you should pass with flying colors. see below for answers and photos.

the how well do you know keira masters? pop quiz:

1. where did both of keira’s parents grow up?

a. Burlington

b. China

c. Natoma

d. Heaven on Earth

e. Both C & D

2. which fellow o-houser did keira and jayne once call the police on?

a. Bethany

b. Toby

c. Abby

d. Sarah

e. Sydney

3. what does keira want to be when she grows up?

a. a Train conductor

b. a dentist

c. an industrial engineer…. whatever that is

d. a figure skater

e. both C & D, but mostly D

4. what is keira’s favorite movie?

a. Gone with the Wind

b. Step Up 2: The Streets

c. Flubber

d. Homeward Bound

e. Trick Question! Keira doesn’t have favorites.

5. keira excels at which of the following activities?

a. taking artsy photos

b. dancing

c. making mix cds

d. life in general

e. all of the above

6. which of the following would cause keira to freak out?

a. having a key hidden outside of the o-house

b. waking up with the alarm clock in her bed instead of on the nightstand

c. a strange man hiding in the o-house bushes

d. an unusually large amount of steam in the shower that looked look poisonous gas

e. all of the above would/have caused keira to freak out

7. what is keira’s most infamous item of clothing?

a. the retro dress her uncle found in a ditch

b. a white v-neck

c. her new denim vest

d. a k-state t-shirt

e. THE purple jacket

8. what did the o-house girls say that they admire most about keira?

a. her color-coordinated closet

b. her perpetually smooth hair

c. the fact that she ALWAYS has her house key

d. her y2k-like food supply

e. all of the above

scroll down for answers.









1. E. Keira’s parents grew up in my hometown- Natoma (population < style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Despite Keira’s frequent trips there to visit her grandparents, we never met before we decided to live together. It’s a small world after all.


* the retro dress referred to in #7.

. E. Well here’s a little classic moment in o-house history: one time last year, keira and jayne were at home alone. i was at work. abby was home for the weekend. bethany was God only knows where and syd was in Oklahoma. k & j were upstairs and heard an “intruder” enter the o-house, lock the door and begin “banging things around” in the kitchen. assuming a very clever vandal had entered the premises, the girls locked themselves in the bathroom and called 911 from the bathtub. moments later, half the riley county police department had surrounded the o-house. the panicked trespasser saw an officer from the window and decided to surrender peacefully. she walked out onto the porch, raised her arms and said, “i live here.” turns out, syd came home early from Oklahoma.



*luckily, they were able to reconcile.



3. E.


*the next nancy kerrigan. (and friends.)


4. also E.


*not really relevant... except that maybe this is the face she makes about absolutes.


5. E.


6 *slow jam.

. E. i couldn’t make this stuff up if i tried.


*freak out face.


7. E.


*the hottest industrial engineer k-state has ever known.


8. E.


* super smooth hair. props to her stylist, abby trammel.


moral of the story: the o-house loves keira. congratulations on being the MOTW!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

it's a love story. baby, just say yes.

hey friends, remember when the o-house had a house crush on josh tedder last year?

i mean, who could blame us?

and tedder came over to the o-house and saw jayne long in her pajamas and thought she was supa fly?


but then jayne developed a real-life crush on tedder, thanks mostly to this haircut?

nice work, keira.
and then they started for real dating?

gross. i mean, that's cute...

and they shared many happy memories together at the o-house with all their bffs?


the woman who brought them together.


the friends who were probably way too involved in the relationship.


it might look like all these pictures were taken the same night... because they were.

well, i am pleased to announce that the o-house is a magical place where people meet and fall in love and decide to spend the rest of their lives together.


Wednesday, April 7, 2010

MOTW (member of the week, duh): j.hull



*youngest member of the o-house, and arguably the hottest.

it’s taken some time (mostly because the o-house just recently forgave her for going home when she had the swine instead of sharing it with the rest of us), but i am pleased to announce that jennie hull is the o-house member of the week.

let’s just share jennie’s story:

it was may of 2009 and the o-house girls found themselves in a desperate situation. after a drama-filled series of events, the details of which are beyond the scope of this blog, we were without a sixth roommate. there were house meetings and super intense phone conversations with landlord dave (props to syd for handling those), and a solution could not be found.

enter jennie hull… aka the sixth man.


i first met j. hull when she and her mom came to look at the house. and i remember thinking, wow, that’s the nicest girl ever. and her mom was great too, because she LOVED the basement, which is pretty much the opposite reaction of all the other moms who have been down there. jennie signed the lease, wrote a check and we were good to go.

after living with jennie for 7+ months, i still think, wow, that’s the nicest girl ever. and also the sneakiest girl. she goes in and out that side door with incredible stealth. if i were planning to rob a house, or even a bank or train, i would consult jennie first, and probably let her in on the heist.


*clever disguise that would come in handy in aforementioned robberies.

however i can’t really picture jennie ever turning to a life of crime. she wants to be an elementary teacher. if i had to guess, i would say that she’d be the type of teacher who gave out skittles and extra recess time and didn’t’ make you feel like an idiot if you forgot the capital of Montana, or if you incorrectly spelled it "c-a-p-i-t-o-l", as i initially did in this post. and she would probably admit to you that long division is a waste of time, thanks to a clever new invention called the calculator….but that’s just a guess.

remember when jennie saved toby’s life? well, by that i mean the time that she tried to save his life, but it didn’t actually need to be saved. IRRELEVANT. the point is that she was super concerned, and she devised the brilliant (albeit unnecessary) rescue plan.


random fact: jennie hull goes to more birthday parties than anyone i have ever known. i would guess that 32% of our conversations include the phrase, “oh, i’m going to a birthday party that night.” now, granted the o-house hosts a lot of birthday parties, but jennie’s party-going is on another level.


*at a birthday party... for Jesus.

random fact #2: jennie's been pulled over like 47 times (ok, i think it's 11). but all but one of those times were because of her headlights. this has led to a fear of driving at night that rivals even my grandmother's.


awesome news about j.hull: after many, many job interviews, jennie just landed a job at coldstone. mmm. the o-house girls, like all Americans, love ice cream. we’re crossing our fingers that she gets a discount on ice cream cakes.

jennie hull: a friend to pets and people, swine flu survivor, birthday party-goer extraordinaire, future coldstone creamery employee of the millennium, and most importantly- O-HOUSE MEMBER OF THE WEEK. oh yeah, and nicest girl ever.

Friday, March 26, 2010

sb10: the pictures

prior to spring break 2010, or SB10 as it will be referred to hereafter, i issued a challenge to the o-house girls: to submit one picture from their break that best encapsulated the week. other than that, there were no instructions. i have now taken the photos and created a little recap of everyone’s SB10. the photos go in ascending order of awesomeness.

6. sarah Hachmeister. i kind of forgot to take any pictures, other than a few while i was EXTREMELY bored driving to Natoma. i went home on Thursday, windows down, sunroof open, sunnies on. i drove back to manhattan on Friday, windows up, heater on full blast, windshield wipers/windows/road all covered in ice/snow. it was a perilous 3.25 hour trip to say the least.


5. jennie hull. jennie spent her SB10 moose hunting. here’s the moose she killed, jennie, and a high school boy. draw your own conclusions. just kidding. jennie went home, did a lot of sleeping in and mourning over her bird who died. also, her sister broke her collar bone. in two places. yikes.


4. keira masters. keira travelled to kcmo, where she met up with jayne long, josh tedder, kevin hubbard and yours truly. the weekend included watching ku dominate k-state, and dominating all the games at dave & busters. check out our 3000 + tickets. after her kc adventure, keira went back to Burlington for some quality time with the fam and a trip to the coat factory.


3. becca melvin. becca got to leave for SB10 early, as she went on a “field trip” to Portland, Oregon. i thought field trips were only for elementary students, but apparently i was wrong. and of course, becca would submit a super artsy photograph that makes everyone else’s look dumb. after spending some time in seattle, becca headed back to manhattan early. she was missing stu terribly. it was the longest they’d been apart in months.


2. sydney miller. what’s more exciting than going to Portland and seattle? how about going to a foreign country? that’s right, syd led a missions trip to Guatemala. she spent her SB10 building a concrete wall, hiking up mountains, perfecting her Spanish, spending quetzal and talking about Jesus with the Guatemalans.


and now you may be thinking, “what could possibly be better than spending a week in south America?”

answer: making the decision to enter holy matrimony.

1.abby trammel. SB10 marks engagement of abby trammel to kellan gregory. take a look at that rock:

the wedding is currently planned for summer 2011. that means that there’s still time for one of the other o-house girls to beat her to the altar. i mean i know it would have to be a short courtship, but THERE’S STILL A CHANCE! jk. congrats to kellan and abby! let the wedding planning begin!

Friday, March 12, 2010

flashbacks and baked goods

i guess the o-house girls really took that last blog post to heart. look at our trash can now:

it's march! what better way to celebrate than with a blog post? i absolutely love march for the following reasons:

1. march madness.


*i'm fully aware that i'll get crap from everyone but abby about this. i don't care. rock chalk.

2. my half-birthday is the 17th. (just in case you're the type of person who gives half- birthday gifts.)

3. sprrrrrrriiiiiinnnnngggg break! here's a flashback to yesteryear:


*jayne, SB will not be the same this year. but please come visit the o-house soon!


*o-house and friends in chi-town. good one, becca.

4. it's not february.

not that february wasn't great for the o-house girls. it was just very cold. inside and outside... (ahem, sydney.) but the chilly weather gave us an excuse to stay indoors and practice our baking skills (a.k.a. man-catching skills):


*blackberry cobbler. recipe courtesy of pioneer woman. mmmmm.


*mocha pie. also courtesy of pioneer woman. super rich and delicious. thank you to kelsey fink for making sure we mixed it for the full 20 + minutes.


*that's right. we're foxy and we make pie.

i don't think i saw jennie hull at all in the month of february. i was about to send out an amber alert, but luckily she appeared the other day. apparently she's been spending all of her time boiling eggs and running.

speaking of jennie hull, here’s a little o-house flashback to last semester. this is a new blog segment i like to call classic moments in o-house history:

now back in the golden era of the o-house, when toby lived here, syd was going out of town for the weekend. she was positively freaking out that we were going feel burdened by toby, or worse, forget to take care of him. in typical sydney fashion, she brought it up at least a dozen times and jennie and i assured her that we didn’t mind at all and that toby would be in mint condition when she got back.

so she left.

about five hours later it occurred to me that i hadn’t seen toby. i did a quick search, couldn’t find him, and concluded that jennie must have taken him somewhere.

a couple hours later, they still weren’t back. and keira and i got a little worried and went downstairs, where we found jennie, but no sign of our canine friend. it quickly became clear that jennie did not have toby, had never had toby, and that toby was long-gone from the o-house premises.

we hypothesized that he had somehow gotten untied in the backyard. by our calculations, he had been gone for up to seven hours, and was probably halfway back to Wichita. we frantically called syd, who had turned off her phone. naturally.

the obvious next course of action was to get in jennie’s convertible, put the top down and drive all over manhattan yelling:

“toby! toby! toby! toby!” and

“toby, come back to the o-house. we love you!” and

“toby, we have a delicious treat for you!” and

“TTTTTTOOOOOOBBBBBYYYYYYY!”


*clearly a post- search party reenactment on the porch.

no response. no sign of him. we finally had to concede defeat and head back to the o-house, where keira had a cake burning in the oven.

i started bracing myself for syd's reaction when she found out that toby was, in all likelihood, deceased. and then i thought about all the other millers and how they weren’t going to be too happy either. after all, syd’s dad once had one of their other dogs AIR-LIFTED to save its life.

so we sat around for awhile, eating burnt cake and reminiscing about toby’s life, and trying not to imagine him dead in a ditch somewhere, or lured into a stranger’s van.

and then my phone rang. it was bethany brabec, who was with syd. here’s a transcript of the conversation:

“bethany! ohmygosh. aaaaahhhh!”

“did you think you lost toby?”

“huh? what? no, WE DID LOSE TOBY!”

“no, you didn’t. syd left him with ashley for the weekend.”

“what?”

“yeah, she forgot to tell you.”

“that little-“ end of transcript.

and there you have it, the first of many classic o-house moments in history .

oh speaking of ashley, as an o-house BFF, she deserves a shout-out. we love her not only because she makes waffles in the shape of barnyard animals, but also because she took the o-house family pictures this year. and she is loud/hilarious/superhot:

ashley: come to the o-house more often. and bring your waffle iron and camera!