member of the week: sydney freaking miller

so you know how sometimes there’s a lot of trash in the trashcan, and instead of taking the trash out, people just keep piling stuff on top? and then you go to throw something away and the whole thing’s overflowing with banana peels and used Kleenex and other unpleasantries. and you say to yourself, “ugh. why do people do that? why don’t they just take out the trash?” but then to prove a point you go ahead and strategically place your trash on top… oh, that’s just the o-house?

well we were in such a state last week. i am fairly certain that the trash needed taken out for a solid three days. i know because there was no room for my empty cereal box, so i just put it back in the cupboard. sometimes its not that we’re lazy, it’s just that we’re busy. (but mostly, we're lazy.) and that’s when i decided that whoever took out the trash would be the o-house member of the week. guess who it was:

not sydney miller.

no, it was our very own abby trammel. i should have seen that one coming a mile away. abby has already been the o-house member of the week and therefore is ineligible to receive the honor again. sorry abs.

so i chose an alternative member of the week, who is equally deserving. that’s right:

SYDNEY MILLER.

there are any other reasons that syd deserves roommate of the week. i texted the other o-housers to see what they thought needed to be included in this post. here are a few responses:

“i think it is of vital importance that the capital of Australia was named after our very own sydney miller. and heath ledger and surfing came from there.” – jennie hull

“gotta do something about b**** week.”—abby trammel ( this is, of course, a term coined by sydney. and if you don’t know what it is, sorry. i have to keep this PG.)

now, obviously there are about 293418892 things about sydney that should be included in this post, but i don't have time to write all of them, and you don't have time to read them... unless you have no life. so instead of typing out a long list of syd's best attributes and idiosyncrasies, i am instead sharing her semi-fictitious daily schedule, which should give you a pretty clear indication of how wonderful she truly is. i now present:

a day in the life of sydney miller

6:38 am: wakes up

6:52: out the door

6:54: grabs some starbucks

7:00: prayer at the middle school

7:42: back at the o-house, making herself look like an adult

8:15: back to starbucks

*note: sydney doesn't dress like this on a regular basis. i'm merely proving the point that the girl loves her some starbucks.

8:28: starting the day at meadowlark, hanging out with all of her 87 year-old BFFs

9:30: meeting about what kind of jello to serve

12:30 done at meadowlark for the day… still no decision on the jello

12:38 lunch at the o-house, puts bagel bites in the oven

12:39 reading O magazine and talking to middle school girls online

1:17 needs some coffee, goes downstairs. remembers the bagel bites. smoke is pouring out of the oven. no big deal. has cinnamon sugar toast instead.

1:38 out the door to go to the younglife office

1:45 some sort of younglife meeting

2:30 pick up some middle school girls from school. go to sonic for happy hour. duh.

3:49 drop off middle schoolers at home, simultaneous conversation with bethany brabec about future life plans

4:00 locked out of the o-house. frantic ringing of the doorbell so that she doesn't miss a moment of OPRAH.

5:00 work out class

6:07 post workout trip to java, sees 47 people she knows.

6:41 baking cookies at the o-house/ kitchen counseling session with sarah hach

6:59 another attempt to burn down the o-house

7:30 younglife/wyldlife event #2 of the day. undoubtedly involves wearing some sort of weird costume

8:51 back at the o-house, time to put on sweat pants, watch real housewives of new york and drink mountain dew out of a wine glass

8:54 joined by the other o-house girls. discussion about that day’s episode of oprah. turns into discussion of syd’s career goals: marry rich and give away money.

9:23 time for another cup of coffee

9:25 sits in room, plots ways to be more edgy, watches grey’s anatomy online

9:53 writes 2 page paper about her feelings. homework is done for the week.

10:01 looks up recipes for the next o-house dinner

10:21 meeting on keira’s bed. discussion includes: other people’s relationships, pioneer woman recipes and shampoo.

11:28 bed time

2:38 am becca comes to bed.

3:19 am becca gets up for the day. syd never knows she was there.

the end.

syd: we love you so much. mostly because you brought toby into our lives and came up with the idea for the blog. and gave us lucky charms for valentine's day.

previously at the o-house

just wanted to catch you up on the latest happenings at the o-house:

on saturday, we had surprise party for distinguished o-house alum bethany brabec. there was some difficulty, as at the last minute bethany went rogue and tried to plan her own party. as sydney put it, “planning a surprise party for bethany is like planning a wedding for a wedding planner.” but by some miracle, she was actually surprised. side note: the o-house offers its condolences to nick brown on nebraska's loss in the big 12 championship, and apologizes for a certain roommate's complete lack of football knowledge. "why did they do the exact same thing again?"- referring to the instant replay.

at bethany’s request, party guests wore green t-shirts. i decided to take it a step further and dress completely like bethany, which led to the realization that i cannot pull off a side ponytail. please check out the face on katie pooler:



okay, here's a better one:



all this leads me to some exciting news:
coming soon- the bethany brabec blog post. whether you know bethany or not, you should be excited. because she is the most popular girl in manhattan, probably in the state of Kansas, and possibly in the entire Midwest. i could probably write an entire blog series on bethany. she’s THAT FUNNY.

more exciting news:
attention gentlemen- it’s official, becca melvin and stu have broken up. now’s the time to make your move. she’s still vulnerable and looking for a shoulder to cry on. and there’s a very strong possibility they could get back together next semester, so time is of the essence.


sydney miller’s super-edgy banana republic coat finally arrived, just in time for the blizzard.




jennie hull has made a new years’ resolution to spend more time upstairs. wooo hooo! we can take more hot pics like this:



news that is scary, not exciting:
the “sydney miller attempt at burning down the o-house” tally is at five. seriously, do not let her in your kitchen unless you’re standing nearby with a fire extinguisher. and abby can testify that even that is not a guarantee of your safety.

news that is neither scary or exciting:

syd and i have started an unofficial competition to see who can get locked out of the o-house the most times. so far, i’d say it’s pretty even. this problem could be eliminated if someone would let us hide a key outside (ahem, keira). but i don’t see that happening anytime soon… or ever, really.

finals week is next week! this tends to be the most eventful week of the year at the o-house, so prepare yourself for some great upcoming stories.

keira's title suggestion was too bad to use

confession: i used to hate thanksgiving. i’m not really sure why… some weird childhood thing. i think it had something to do with dressing up like a pilgrim at school or being forced to eat leftover turkey for a week straight. and i had this theory that thanksgiving was just like Christmas, minus all the good stuff about Christmas, i.e. presents, candy canes and mistletoe.

but at some point, i saw thanksgiving for what it really is: a three day break from school and possibly the one day of the year you get pumpkin pie. and while i (and all the other o-house girls) had a lovely thanksgiving this year at home with our families, i would be remiss if i didn’t blog about our second annual o-house thanksgiving, which was awesome as usual.

the idea was simple and brilliant and thought up by sydney miller. the o-house provides the turkey, and everyone else brings their favorite thanksgiving food. and then we spread out tablecloths on the floor and feast. now past experience tells us that some of the o-house girls are not domestically gifted. (namely me) and so this plan is sheer genius because syd takes care of the turkey and all we have to do is contribute some money and show up. and the turkey that she made turned out absolutely beautiful:

now of course, becca Melvin contributed some homemade stuffing that was absolutely delicious, and probably handed down by generations of melvins. and then jessie briggs brought these little guys that were almost too cute to eat:

and there are tons of pictures of all the food (see syd’s Facebook album), but what really made the party were all the hot party-goers. see here:

and here:

the evening was an overwhelming success, and the o-house realized all the things we have to be thankful for: amazing friends, incredible food, little sisters, crocheting, each other, and of course you- our blog readers. we love you all…. unless damry is reading this.