Europe pictures

Just in case you are interested - here is the link to my Paris 2010 photos from this summer in Europe. I traveled with my mama, my aunt Shawn, and my cousin Codie. It was a great time, one of my best memories, and I hope to go back. I loved France and Italy, and I'm sure I would have loved Switzerland if the weather had been a little nicer to us.

P.S. I had my last class today (except one more ASL class & final on Wednesday) so hallelujah! Only 3 more papers to write :) so nice to be getting done!

tunes

Happy Ground by Pete Murray is a classic pick-me-up song by the Australian crooner. It tugs on the heartstrings a bit when the children chime in on the chorus, consider yourself warned. I'm a huge Pete Murray fan and love all his songs, but I definitely go in phases, and this song is at the top of my iTunes, and is on repeat. Enjoy!
Or if you are itching for some more Mumford & Sons, check out Winter Winds.

“We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."

Vegas Baby!

Day 1 - we drove from Lewiston straight through to Corvallis - roughly 9 hours of travel. 

Day 2 - Lincoln, Oliver and I followed Riley and his roommate to the OSU vs. USC game with $10 tickets! It was my first college football game as a college student, very exciting albeit freezing cold. 

 Day 3 - We drove back to Vancouver and stayed with Kristi, Carrie and Lily. We made multi-colored sugar cookies, and read children's stories. It was lots of fun. 

Day 4 - Flew out successfully from PDX, arriving in Las Vegas Nevada at 11 a.m. The shuttle was full so Oliver and I rode in a limo to The Mirage where we met the rest of our group. There was 12 of us!

Day 5 - The strip at night was crazy! Lights everywhere, people everywhere, smoke everywhere. We walked between Mirage, Harrah's, O'Shea's and Caesar's Palace almost 3 times every day. 

 Day 6 - The Stratosphere Tower was intense. I don't have any pictures to upload yet, but you could see the whole strip from the top of the tower, and the boys went on the roller-coasters! I couldn't even look at the roller-coasters without feeling a tingle in the back of my legs, and a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Day 7 - we left Vegas, arriving in PDX at 2 pm. It was smooth sailing back to TD via I-84. We arrived just in time to prepare Lori's garlic mashed potatoes. Sara, Pat, Will, Kelly, and Mamie joined us for Thanksgiving which was a great treat. We all stuffed ourselves to the max, and laid on the floor for a bit. Lincoln contributed sparkling cider to the cheers of all the youth present. After all, what is T-day without some cider? 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Day 8 - Post-Thanksgiving stretching in the morning followed by a trip to Uncle Steve's house to watch the Duck game. Ducks prevailed. Almost all Strouds present, probably the most people ever to grace Steve's house with their presence. Of course, some of us made time for the Starlight Parade to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus and his missus. Sadly, the parade is growing smaller every year. Signs of a poor economy? or just lackluster and disbelief about the magic of Santa and Christmas time? Regardless, we did our part and cheered loudly at the Claus sleigh. Alas, no candy was thrown our way despite our efforts. Later, some of us went to Harry Potter #7. Much disappointment for those of us who are avid book-readers, but I still hold that it was better than most of the previous movies. 

Day 9 - Dad and I played some tennis at good old TDFCC, and lifted some weights. After our calorie burning we headed straight home for some food! Delicious home-made meals, something I'd really missed up at school. Dad, Mom, Oliver and I visited the Norths (Carrie has new baby) for a bit, and then headed home to meet up with Riley, Lincoln, and Sarah for game night. We laughed our way past midnight playing Bohnanza which involves imaginary bean fields, and a plethora of beans. 

Day 10 - Farewell to TD and a lengthy drive back to Lewiston. Thankfully Mom sent some food along with us so we had some grub for dinner upon arrival. Only 3 more weeks of school until Christmas Break and Cookie Camp! 

Happy holidays to all! 

new YouTube sensation

Thanks to Katie Stroud for sharing this with me via Debbie! My new favorite YouTube video is Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. Enjoy!

Today's Tunes

Skinny Love is a song by the alternative singer Bon Iver. Lincoln (the resident music expert) introduced Bon Iver to me a couple months ago, but it came up on my iTunes today while studying in the dorms. Enjoy!

The dreaded week BEFORE break

I've been pretty bland lately. It's a sad state of affairs. Early senior-itis? Late freshman-itis? NOT AN "ITIS" AT ALL?!?! Not to worry, looking back I had some pretty good moments recently.....

Highlights of the last week: 

1. Found an awesomely hilarious book at the library called "How I Became a Famous Novelist". I have already laughed out loud five times, once to the point of tears, and I'm only 30 pages into it. That's a good sign. It's nothing like Dave Barry's Big Trouble, but the author really has my cynical sarcastic rants down pat. It's a pleasure to read, and definitely not educational, which is probably why I'm enjoying it at this point. 

2. Finally finished setting up my room at the Clarkston house. I lugged all my leftover stuff from the storage unit and re-organized a good 7/8ths of my little bedroom space. It is so nice now! I have a usable desk, I have two bookshelves, I bought a shoe rack for my closet, even bought a Rocky poster for my wall. Amazing. I almost kind of like it :) 

Eh, that's all that is jumping to mind at the moment. I guess I, along with the rest of the college population, am ready for a break. Looking forward to my trip to Corvallis, my trip to Vegas, but most of all, I am excited for Thanksgiving, and some down time at home. 

Kodak Moment? I think so. 

Let's just say the tennis team this year isn't lacking in the creative/random/eccentric/hilarious factor. I'm super excited for the season - can't believe it's already November, we're almost there! We started intervals today, on the treadmill.... basically, I haven't been on a treadmill for a year. I'm more of a biker/ run outside type person; treadmills are boring. But today, I was in luck. Seinfeld re-run on TV3 in the Cardio Room. Score! Plugged in my headphones (sorry Mom and Dad, I'm Generation Y) and sprinted my little legs off while watching as Jerry got caught nose-picking by his model girlfriend, Kramer discoverred his cologne idea has been stolen by Calvin Klein, Elaine sent out a Xmas card with her "little brown circular protuberance", and George sang show tunes about his love for Susan. Quite entertaining. Finished intervals and headed to the weights - getting a little high up on the weight scale for me, but we're down to 8 reps, so I'll manage. 

I feel lazy tonight, despite my afternoon workout, and have been watching Groundhog Day at work.... Brings back fond memories. Plus, I've discovered (shhh don't tell my professors) I'm kind of ahead on my homework.... I know. I can't even read that sentence without doing a double take and re-reading. I must be missing something?!?! Other than the inevitable (for those who've not been reading this blog, I'm reading James Joyce for class), I literally am caught up in all classes.... 

Guess it's time to study up on graduate schools, right Dad? 

I got the bug....

It finally hit - I've been fending it off for weeks. But, realistically, I had no chance. I spend 95% of my time with either Lincoln, Oliver, Tyler, or a combination of the three, and they have ALL been sick. It was bound to come my way. Don't fret - rest easy - I stocked up on DayQuil (ok, I borrowed/stole three tablets from Loreto) and cough drops (3 lozenges found in Oliver's desk drawer), but really, I am taking care of myself. I didn't even run the bridges yesterday, which puts me three behind our ten required runs, and instead I studied, sipped on some soup, and slept. What a lovely alliteration if I do say so myself.... Coach Kai is gloating - his mantra of the last four years is wash your hands, and as per my condition I have obviously been slacking. But honestly, how can I be the "mother"  of the dorm boys (Lincoln included) AND have time to rid myself of their germs? Near impossible I say.

Silver lining: extra time to catch up on my reading of Ulysses by James Joyce (a 700 page novel, virtually incomprehensible to anyone less literately-aware than Joyce... which is everyone) while I lay in bed with Mumford & Sons album on repeat.

Moral of the story: a flu shot would not have prevented this sickness from taking hold. If you know what this moral is referring to then I am talking to you. If my flu shot reference "flu" over your head then: A, consider yourself lucky it didn't stab you in the arm - OW!, B, consider yourself on the same level as me plodding through Joyce's references to everything under the sun (literally) and C, this moral doesn't apply to you, and you may continue to the real moral of the story directly below.

Real moral of the story: wash your hands!

Tunes

Awake My Soul is yet another song by Mumford & Sons. I absolutely love their entire album, this is my newest favorite of theirs.

P.S. Linc and I had several groups of trick-or-treaters today! So exciting, unfortunately we only had tootsie rolls to give out. But yay! I feel like an official house-owner.... or renter :)

Corn Maze Extravaganza

Let's just say that Halloween would in no way be complete without a corn maze outing. We set out from the LC campus at around 9 pm, four cars and 14 people. We drove out a dark windy Tammany Creek Road, into the backwoods of Lewiston (kind of redundant in Idaho to have backwoods), that's when the fog set in. Had to find the fog lights in the little red Honda Fit for the first time. 

See nobody had ever been up to the Rodeo Grounds before which was where the corn maze was located. It was a conundrum. We came up to a stop sign in the middle of nowhere about 15 minutes after 9. Right turn led to Lewiston, left turn led to US 95. We had no idea. Maybe we had gone too far, and had passed the maze in the fog? Maybe we were on the wrong road entirely? 

I called Marina, native resident of Lewiston for the past 20 years. She lives in the area, and she has been a rodeo participant for quite a while, in fact I believe she won a National Equestrian title of some sort.... Anyway. I call her for further directions. She responds with what I imagine to be a completely blank expression.... "Uh... where are you again??" Apparently she had never heard of a stop sign on Tammany Creek road, so for all intents and purposes we were completely lost. I randomly chose to take a left, ushering the 3 cars behind me on the side of the road to follow blindly. We made it! Just 300 yards down the road was the Clearwater Corn Maze - over two acres of corn to fight our way through to the finish :) 

It was a great experience. We of course lost our way many times, and ended up in many small groups rather than one large one. At one point Barb, Cesar and I were very alone, up to our ankles in mud, but we persevered. It took us 35 minutes or so to find our way out, unaided by maps (mostly because they were an extra dollar to buy). I was so glad to have shared such a wonderful time with so many of my teammates - what a bonding experience. And of course we have hilarious photos to share, and laugh over now! 

Happy Halloween everyone :) 

Fall traditions

A football game is a great way to spend a cold Friday night in the fall. 8 man football is a little different than what I'm used to, but it's actually easier to watch because I can follow the ball better. Scot played a great game (before he broke his collarbone, sad day) and Sherman emerged victorious over local rival Dufur. 

Besides remembering the game score, I realized something at that football game. As anyone who has taken a cursory glance at this blog knows, I have a list of things I love on the side, things to be happy for, to take joy in, etc. I realized that a huge majority of these things are usually fall-related. 

I love spending  time with my family. Well lo, and behold, a mere 28 Stroud members (and companions) appeared at the game to cheer #42 on! Not to mention there was burgers and hot dogs at the game, hotdogs being a personal favorite. The air was crisp, we were all bundled up against the breeze, and it was a beautiful night out in the country. The little kids ran around the track, and shot Goldfish into each other's mouths. The parents cheered, honked at, and cajoled the kids on the field. The game ended right as the first sheet of rain fell on our heads. Even the rain couldn't make the last couple hours less amazing. 

Our return journey to Lewiston on Sunday included much of the same beauty. The hills were alive, but not with the sound of music. They were alive with golden light. It honestly looked like the warmest light I had ever seen, shining right across the wheat fields of the Palouse, infusing each grain with sun. A double rainbow arched through the sunlight, fading in and out around the clouds bulging with water. It reminded me why fall is my favorite season. 

Everyone: this is Larry. He is the animal house spirit protecting Lincoln and I in our cluttered house of Clarkston, Washington. He is very friendly, but kind of uppity at times. For example he has yet to leave the mantle to mingle with other animal friends in the house -  namely a variety of spiders, and potato bugs, and the occasional sphinx moth. Larry seems willing to share his humble abode with Lincoln and I, and we are grateful to have him. 

Sean, the technical owner of our house, picked Larry up on a Moroccan vacation. I dubbed him Larry upon our arrival, sadly this is not the name he was originally christened with. But I like to think it's growing on him. 

Other pictures of our wacky house to come! 

tunes for the day

Ben Lee is an Australian crooner with a smooth voice. His music fits into the indie pop genre similar to Ben Kweller, Ben Folds, and Matt Nathanson to name a few. I've listened to a couple of his songs religiously for the past couple weeks. My current favorite is Into the Dark which I actually woke up singing this morning. It's disappointingly short in my opinion and could use one more verse, but it's still a very pick-me-up type song! Enjoy :)

Confession time

Time to share a random fact about my life! I don't tell people this very often, but when I do I get a very odd look usually paired with a "I don't get it.... you're weird" type of expression. Needless to say I'm excited to share it :) here goes..... 


I "save" letters. 


Doesn't sound that weird right? Course, you probably have that look on your face that I was talking about earlier. Typical. Let me explain, or at least try to.... I don't really save letters. I conserve them. And it serves no purpose, just an OCD habit of mine. Let's start from the beginning: when I read something, or am thinking about how to spell something, I type it in the air, like I would on a computer keyboard. If I am typing the phrase "google it" I can save two letters because there are two g's and two o's.... At some point this must have been exciting to me, or I had a very boring childhood because I can remember playing this game and being very entertained by it. I even competed against myself to find phrases and words that I could save the most letters with. 


Judge as you will, but I know deep down you're envious that I have outed one of my secrets online. It's my own personal version of Postsecret and I stand behind it proudly. I think it was probably an ingenious method I developed to work on my spelling, but I admit I'm a little biased. 


Feel free to share any of your oddities, or random facts you know in the comment section below! I won't laugh if you don't..... :)

Mumford & Sons

My brother and I keep up an ongoing battle. It has various names but inevitably boils down to a argument over who has found the most music for the other person's enjoyment. "I found Modest Mouse" I yell. "You know I gave you all of Bright Eyes" he retorts. It's never-ending, amusing, good old sibling rivalry.

No matter who is ahead at any given time (not that anyone is keeping score, as they say) we still share music, and often like similar things. One major difference: I listen to songs, Lincoln listens to artists. He is devoted to them as if one great song must make all their songs equally great. He is not of the era of the one hit wonder. He hates using my iPod because I have 450 artists and 473 songs, only slightly more than one song per artist.

Here is a recently shared artist: Mumford & Sons. Linc maintains their entire album is good, but I've only had opportunity to acquaint myself with two songs in between study sessions. Here is their song The Cave which is not only alternative, and catchy, but also has a pretty interesting music video along with the tunes. Enjoy!