For a while now I've been trying to understand some of the things going on in my head; trying to analyze them and figure out why I continue to bombard myself with these depressing thoughts. I heard this song by the Sidewalk Preachers twice on the drive home from Spokane yesterday and it seemed to be exactly what I needed to hear.

"Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say."

Study Table

For those of you who have never bee versed in Sorority life, along with the wonderful events, the sisterhood, the beautiful house and the best friends comes Study Table; A wonderful invention designed to make sure you are taking time to focus on your grades. There are proctored times you are allowed to do it and a certain time... mine is now. Usually we, as freshmen are required eight study table hours a week. This week in honor of Dad's weekend, our hours have been cut in half. Regardless, I can't seem to study in a room of people. There is always something interesting going on. Blame my undiagnosed ADD for not being able to think about the effectiveness of the Transit systems in Moscow when there are posters to read, people to watch and sounds to listen to. I've found throughout my college studying experience, which now totals a whopping month and a half, that I study best when there is nothing to distract me. Attention spans are difficult things to come by these days, I read an article the other day that said that all of my generation's attention spans are growing shorter. I believe it. And while it makes me fell secure to know that I'm not the only with concentration issues it also worries me. What if what interests me now doesn't keep my attention in the future? I don't want to dedicate four years of my life to studying something that I will become bored with three years into the job...

My last parade for lilac ended at approximately 2:30 yesterday afternoon. It's been a long run. and I've enjoyed most of it. I love that I can look back on all the hassle, all the classes, all the sitting up straight and know that it was completely worth it to be able to have been a princess for a year. I will miss that big purple dress, though this last weekend it almost fell off me.. (I told that lady that it would be too big if I lost any weight at all) But it was a wonderful last parade weekend.

On Friday, I drove back straight from Moscow, doing my makeup in the car, listening to my Harry Potter audiobook. I pulled into my driveway and ten minuets later we were leaving again to get to the royalty reception at the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce. Upon arrival we were gifted with these amazing goodie bags full of everything from free spa treatments to protein powder (though I'm not sure what ill use the meal supplement milk for). The Valley Parade was beautiful. I felt so proud that I was able to represent the place I grew up in. It was a night parade and only the second time I had ridden the float with all the lights on. Lexie and I shared the bench and we had Taylor Swift blaring on the speakers. Halfway through, the parade came to a stand-still. Instead of sitting there being bored, Lexie and I hopped off the float and went around to meet all the children, take pictures and visit with all the people on the sidelines (many of which I knew). The El Katif from the Shriners bandwagon behind us gave us his special pin, a rarity we were thankful for, and all the little girls ran up to us and gave us these great big hugs that made me glad I had opted for this rather than I-dance.

As soon as we finished the parade, Mom, Dad and I grabbed some Taco Bell and headed to Leavenworth. It was great to get to chat with them after being gone for three weeks. We pulled into our hotel in Leavenworth at 12:45 am. It wouldn't have been too bad, however the 6:00 wake up call along with a weeks worth of sleep deprivation made it difficult. I met the other girls (Ashley, Lexie, Natale, and Momma Patt) for breakfast at 7:30 at their hotel, then we headed to the float judging. It was a beautiful day, hot and cloudless. We waited around forever for our float to be judged, but it was worth it... we ended up getting the first place float award! (that's a big deal) We also went to the royalty reception. We got distracted along the way when the Seattle Pirates saw us and decided they needed to take pictures with these "lovely ladies."

We also stopped for a photo op after the reception to take pictures in front of the beautiful mountains surrounding Leavenworth. The parade itself was so much fun. There were so many people there and downtown Leavenworth is so beautiful. I did get pooped on by a bird during the parade, which Lexie thought was the funniest thing ever (it wasn't). After the parade (and dancing with the Reardin girls to their drive-in float music, I went back to the host hotel and took pictures with the Royal Lady. Ashley and I then decided we needed to do some shopping. I changed and met them back at the hotel. On our walk downtown Ashley and I made a wonderful little friend, though we still don't know why he was there. We had thai food from a vendor in the marketplace and did some fun shopping in the hat shoppe.

Uncle Drew and his new girlfriend, Cindy met us later to go rock climbing. It was Uncle Drew's first time rock climbing since before I was born. We friction climbed and he did pretty well. Cindy wanted to try, but Dad forgot the extra rock shoes. I enjoyed it a lot though my ankles were pretty sore in the morning. We then went to a cute little rockin' diner called 59er Diner. It was a ton of fun, we even had a popping contest with the man in the booth across from us. After a long weekend it was nice to go home. I'll miss Parades, they have been fun, but I think it's time to start focusing on other things, school for example.