exposing adolescents to monopoly

It’s so foggy outside.

In a mystical non-inversion type way.

I feel like I am wandering around the Hogwart’s grounds.

It’s not surprising if you think about it.

So in the dark of night and fog of air and wet of ground,

Alinypoo and I decided clearly the best course of action was to make the trip up to Bowl and Pitcher.

We get lost. obvi. What should I do?

Get out a map? Help navigate? Find a nice old lad with a schnauzer to get directions?

No, no. Clearly the best course of action would be to write down the steps of the trip on a word document using important quotes from along the way.

lulz, don’t be silly.

Bowl and Pitcher Directions:

By: Burger King LadyX UsX RyanX AustinX ChloeX Us
1. Steal bike. No wait. Borrow bike
2. Wait until it’s too dark to do anything
3. Something about Francis
4. Get Directions from Burger King Drive in. She grew up in the same house as Sara. Pretty much.
5. Go on wrong side of road.
6. Wellsley might run into bowl and pitcher. Something like that.
7. Turn on Wellsley
9. Oh frick. Is this legal? WHAT DO I DO?!
10. Oh okay.
11. I feel like we should go left in general.
12. MMM WELLSLEY! *high five* we actually high fived.
13. We actually just arrived at a funeral home.
14. Let’s ask the lady at the pizza parlor. Pizza. Mmm honey.
15. Okay got it. Do you remember anything that she said? No.
16. Ohhhh we were there the whole time.
17. Success.

And yes, the nice park service ranger who asked us what we were doing did in fact meet Alina at REI two months ago.

Happy Vetran’s Day, Vetrans.

This may be the most American think I’ve ever seen.

Really, Keep it Real

Sara Nicole

Still Keeping it Real

Hello little girl.

Are you lost?

Don’t worry. If the picture below looks familiar, you’re in the right place.

I know you’re going to miss the old page.

But I decided it is a poor representation of anything that pertains to my life at all.

But hey, when in Rome.

I hope you love what I’ve done with the place.

On that note,

Keep it Real

Sara Nicole

In the Nosebleed Section

The weekend.

The beginning is a good place to start.

Poetry and pie.

Also known as “poe” and “pie” by the more seasoned Whitworthian.

Meaning I just said it.

It’s pretty much what you’d imagine.

Poetry and pie.

This is how we chose to spend our Friday nights.

I heard an ode from my Spanish live lab leader.

The one who likes to recite poetry on top of chairs in the student union instead of doing normal class.

What a champ.

I think it’s safe to say we made the right decision.

Later we teamed up with my friend Alina for some Gilmore girls because as it turns out Alina’s a Gilmore Girls virgin. I know. I didn’t think there were any left either.

Then, the next morning when everybody remembered that it was a stressful week

and they should be getting lots of sleep

or spending every waking moment studying

Alina decided that the best course of action would be to get up early and ride into town for the REI scratch and dent sale.

We went for a backpack but came back with chacos. No harm no foul.

When we got back from that, I went with my lovely Whitworth "family" to downtown Spokanistan. Our mission was two fold. To find better than average quiech and coffee shops for Emily to perform.

A nice man with a Minnesota accent who was standing on the other side of the street offered to take our picture. Or maybe he was from Montana. It’s hard to say.

Unless he was faking it. And he’s not a man at all.

{Kristin, Anna, Cara, Sara, Emily}

I love these girls.

Sunday, the majority of our pod slept through our respective church services. oops.

We had good reasons. Not really, it was daylight savings so we had even more time.

I had the pleasure of mountain biking with this fine company.

I was especially pleased to finally figure out where the river was that my mom and I had seen when I visited Whitworth over a year ago. I had convinced myself they moved it.

Alina and I decided it would be a good idea to climb this tree.

Little did we know that the boys would take off when we were climbing back down.

Not really. They were sitting on the road when we left without them.  Right where we left them.

Color us embarassed.

Then later, Tyrone Wells melted our hearts.

T.G.F.F.C.A.W.U. Thank God for free concerts at Whitworth University.

That’s my motto

On a scale of one to ten, we couldn’t have been more excited

Sometimes in life, I wish I would shower before meeting Tyrone Wells.

This is my roommate and I.

Aren’t we the most darling set of roommates?

It would be hard to say.

There are probably a lot of other darling sets of roommates

that we haven’t met before.

Anyway, I could never add up all the laughter, priceless moments, music videos, European bread blah blah blah of this weekend.

And smoosh them into one blog post.

But I tried anyway.

Dare I say the best weekend of college so far?

It’s conceivable.

Keep it Real

Sara Nicole

Awake my Soul - A Mumf and Sons Tribute

Sitting silently on the edge of a foliate mountaintop staring out on the edge of infinity. Far off, the neighboring peak peers its snow-capped summit out of the fog. Darkness can be such a cruel expression. Yet, there it is, as I stare silently into the beautiful abyss heavily ladened with the hazy dimness of dusk. Slowly, I close my eyes for and I feel my heart stumble upon the unknown. Nothingness. Emptiness. I try to fill this void with unreal things. I try to bridge this gap with thin ropes and frayed wires. Peering out once again, I see glimmers of hope faintly in the distance coming from the other mountain. Why is it that we all desire to somehow be a part of something greater than ourselves? Something in our deepest marrow of our existence has a need to be valued. We want the world to see us through a false lens. But what about when the darkness robs the world of all its sight? Nothingness. My bridges have been burned. Burned into nothingness like the empty chasm below. We lose sight of God’s version of the story because it is too good to be true. Holy power crosses the lines of the valley. We never needed to build a bridge to begin with. Maybe that’s how grace really works. And in that moment I am done defending the person I have become. I have a faith that doesn’t deny moments of beauty, but rather embraces them. I have a faith that celebrates these kinds of transcendent moments instead of accounting them as tangents or distractions. I have come to understand that these events culminate to something greater. They act as a sampling-- a small taste of a much greater relationship. And that is what life is. Something greater from the one who first gave us the breath of life. We reflect the beauty and wonder of the one who made us. God gave us life and it is his desire that we live it. I will find beauty through suffering. I will find strength in pain. For the greatest gift I can give another person is a hope. The greatest act I can perform is not to bridge a gap, but to love. Love freely. Love without an agenda.

"Love will not betray, dismay or enslave you. It will set you free."

{Lewis River Trail ’10}

Keep it Real

Sara Nicole

I left my heart and burnt my socks.

This fall break instead of going home,

I put on my hiking duds and embarked on a Mount Saint Helens adventure.

We decided to backpack along the Lewis River because we hear it’s pretty rad.

As it turns out, it’s pretty rad.

Here are the participants.

{Melissa, Jeff, Holly, Niki, Chloe, Rylie, Liam, Sara, Sam, Hannah, Rachel}

Sneaky Rachel took my picture when I was sleeping.

I kept trying to cuddle with her in the night.

At one point I was almost completely on top of her snuggled up by her mat.

I had completely forgotten about the incident

until she brought it up over oatmeal in the morning.

It all came flooding back.

In our down time we talked about our morbid pet stories and made weaponry.

This is Rachel making a knife with a knife.

YOU HAVE A BETTER WAY?!

On Halloween night, we dressed up as backpackers and explored some spooky caves.

A special thanks to Jeff Poddmayer. He showed us the best Halloween ever until next year.

Once we got back on the road we were able to enjoy some real Oregon scenery.

A picture could never do it justice but I took one anyway.

Really in the end, we just went crazy.

On one final note:

-windmill farms are great.

Keep it Real

Sara Nicole

Absolutely 45th Street

This morning I went outside and said.

Hello Mr. Fall, it’s nice to meet you.

Keep it Real

Sara Nicole

A Strongly Worded Picture

Cara Verhaeghe.

Today is your birthday.

Nineteen years ago.

You emerged into the world.

And we are glad you did.

This is you. Eating the brownies that Emily and I made you.

We did not steal any Vegetable oil from the dorm next door.

Then disappear into the night.

You doll. I hope these words are worth a thousand pictures.

Keep it Real

Sara Nicole