Alpha Xi Delta - University of South Dakota

Epsilon Calls Epsilon Calls page page 2 that's important," Cindy shared. "It's been fun to see my retirement hobby grow into more than 207,000 followers." While at Gert's Drive Inn, Cindy worked the front window, made decadent ice cream specialties, and was a short-order cook. "It was a hot spot in 'Woony' and a fun job!" she mused. As an undergraduate at the University of South Dakota, she worked in the registrar's office, back in the days of typewritten transcripts, manually computed credit hours, and punch cards used for class registration. Upon graduating with a degree in business administration, she worked as an insurance underwriter, marketing representative, and educator for St. Paul Companies, where she eventually met her Floridian husband when he enrolled in a three-week class that she was facilitating. After only three weeks of knowing each other, they decided to tie the knot. "We had a long-distance engagement, married, and then I moved to Florida," she explained. "I was able to continue my tenure with St. Paul after working in a Florida insurance agency for two years." She and her husband, Lat, later opened their own property and casualty insurance agencies in Venice, Sarasota, and Orlando. They sold their agencies and retired four years ago. Today, she thoroughly enjoys the retired island life in Islamorada in the Florida Keys. While Cindy and her husband enjoyed building a successful business together, they're most proud of their three grown sons, who are now 32, 29, and 26. "I wrote '10 Things You Need to Tell Your Adult Children' for them, and it was my most popular article, shared on many publications including The Today Show," she said. This article is available to read on her blog, as well as on grownandflown.com. As for her Alpha Xi days, she has many wonderful memories, including living in the "dorm room" her senior year, which was typically reserved for newly initiated members moving into the house. However, Cindy and seven of her Epsilon sisters opted to live in the eight- person room because they wanted to be together as much as possible during their last year at USD. She also enjoyed Strollers, a musical where they teamed up with a fraternity for a competition. "The Alpha Xi Delta house was my life when I was in college. I lived in the house for three years. I served as rush chairman and president, and I had the privilege of attending two national conventions," she remarked. "I absolutely loved it, and I can't imagine getting through college without that support." Cindy has enjoyed reconnecting with her sisters via Facebook over the years, as well as occasional visits in person. And when she first moved from South Dakota to New Orleans after college, guess who came to visit her when she was homesick? Yep, her sorority sisters. Visit tropicallifefoodandfun.com or Tropical Life, Food and Fun on Facebook; you can also follow along on Instagram at @tropicallifefoodandfun. Connect with Cindy directly at farr305@yahoo.com. 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 2/3 cup shortening 2 eggs 2 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder 2 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon salt Early in the day or the day before: Measure all ingredients into a large bowl—use a mixer if you'd like, but I just mix thoroughly with a spoon or spatula. Then I use my hands to finish mixing and shape dough into a ball. Put it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours so it's easy to handle. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. For best results, use parchment paper on your cookie sheets, but if you don't have parchment paper, make sure you lightly grease the cookie sheets. (If you haven't tried baking cookies on parchment paper, you are missing out! I went through years of doing it the hard way before my friend, Jennifer, wised me up!) Roll half or a third of the dough at a time, keeping the rest of the dough refrigerated. If you like your sugar cookies crisp, roll your dough very thin. I like my cookies a little softer, so I roll about 1/4" thick. Make sure to flour your rolling pin AND your cookie cutters as you roll and cut. Roll your trimmings until all your dough has turned into cookies! Place your cookies about 1/2" apart on your cookie sheet and bake eight minutes or until the edges are very lightly brown. I use a special little cookie turner to remove cookies to racks. Cool and decorate. I use a powdered sugar frosting that starts out with: 3 cups of powdered sugar 2 tablespoons of softened butter 1 teaspoon of vanilla Milk Add milk until the frosting is the consistency desired. Add powdered sugar if it becomes too thin. I like the frosting a little thicker, so it holds the decorating designs. Happy baking and eating! Having Fun in the Sun Having Fun in the Sun (Continued from page 1) A sunset as seen from Cindy's backyard in Islamorada. Cindy and her husband, Lat, with Alpha Xi Delta sister Dawn Donnelly Glover '77 and her husband, Gary, visiting the Florida Keys in early 2020. This is the best rolled sugar cookie recipe EVER: What are the top three things you learned or gained from Alpha Xi Delta? Confidence. Lifelong friends and an incredible network. A sense of belonging like no other.

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