Pictures from Europe

Some of the highlights from our trip to Europe this month can be seen here.

We had the opportunity to see a lot of Europe with some family members. My sister Lisa and her husband, Cameron, my brother Andrew and his wife, Lindsay, my Mom and Dad, and Jeran and myself, all hopped into a van and went on a fast-paced tour of Europe for two weeks.

We flew into Dusseldorf and went to Cologne and Marksburg Castle in Germany. The next day we went to a few sites in The Netherlands, Zaanse Schans and Amsterdam. Then we went to France and saw the sites in Paris for a few days. Then we went to Normandy and then crossed the channel to England via a ferry. We saw things in London and then some things in the country surrounding London. After that, we headed home. Woohoo! It was a great trip. Thanks Mom and Dad!

They finally found him

Jeran got some exciting mail this week.




The evening gown event should be interesting.

Double trouble

Jeran's brother Rylen was here visiting us for the last week. He came out just for a fun visit and to go to a Relient K concert with Jeran.

I came home from Girl's Camp on Wednesday and Rylen flew in late that night. On Thursday, Jeran went to work and Rylen mostly slept and played on the computer. That evening I headed back up to Girl's Camp to help them back up and bring stuff back on Friday morning.

On Friday, I got back from Girl's Camp with all the gear and whatnot and Jeran headed in to work. Rylen and I went around taking the camp equipment back to it's various owners (Thanks for carrying all that stuff, Rylen!) and went to the grocery store. That night we all went to our friend's, the Gladden's, house for pizza, Rock Band, and a movie. It was good fun. Rylen is really good at the guitar so we did better at Rock Band than we usually do. When we got home after that, we ended up playing Warcraft III until about 1 AM. Blagh... Rylen did finally beat Jeran with my pitiful help, or maybe just my lucky charm-ness, since all I did was stay alive.

Saturday we got ready and headed out to the beach. We went to Topsail Island which is just over a 2 hour drive. It was a perfect day, not too hot, but not so cool that the water isn't inviting. We had a good time playing in the waves and finding very small beach wildlife. I wish I had some pictures. Jeran found a tiny hermit crab in his shorts and we also caught some tiny horseshoe crab-looking creatures that were burrowed in the wet send near the water. I wish I had some pictures because it was a nice day. That night we went and played Carcassonne and Liar's Dice at some friends house.

Sunday we went to church and relaxed. I think Rylen got tired of everyone saying things like, "Wow! You look just like Jeran!" or "You two look exactly the same," or "Ooooh. A younger, smaller Jeran!" But it was true, especially since Rylen wore some of Jeran's clothes to church.

Monday we mostly just hung out and played games and talked while Jeran was at work. That night we went to a Durham Bulls baseball game. This reminded me that baseball is very boring and slow and that baseball games are only fun because of the people you go with and a little bit of the environment. We went with two other couples and had a good time talking, eating cotton candy and (for some people) hot dogs, and watching the fireworks afterwards. The Bulls won also, which is always good.

On Tuesday, Jeran came home early so that they could fit in some more Warcraft games. That night they went to the Relient K concert, which was apparently awesome. Besides that they got separated from each other right from the beginning and didn't find each other again until it was over, they had a great time. Here's a video Jeran took of Who I Am Hates Who I've Been if you want to sample their music:

Hooray! Thanks for coming to visit us Rylen! It was a lot of fun!

Girl's Camp!

Last week I went to Girl's Camp with the Young Women in our ward since I am a YW advisor. The camp is located about an hour north. The youth leaders and I left Monday and drove through really really downpouring rain, which was an ominous beginning. We set up our tents in a slight drizzle but that evening was really nice. Early the next morning at about 4:00 am I was lying awake in my tent, having been awakened by rain or thunder or a rock under me or something, and I hear someone yell, "Sister Stratford!!!" I clamber out of my tent and find that the girl's tent has halfway fallen in on them. Two of the stakes had slipped out of the ground so I fixed it. I finally managed to go back to sleep at about 6 am, just in time to wake every one up in the downpour at 7 am to go to their meeting.

Anyways, it rainned every night except for the last one but each afternoon it was fairly dry so it wasn't completely miserable. I did get to come home Wenesday afternoon and go back up Thursday evening, which was soooo nice. I got to take a warm shower, sleep in a soft bed without worrying about rain, flooding tents, or walking people to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

It was all in all a good time and it was fun to get to know the girls better. Hooray, Girl's Camp!

Bethany visits us in NC

I am way behind in my blogging! Here is a recap of my friend Bethany's visit near the beginnning of June:

The first day we went to Raleigh to go to the Museum of Natural Science. They had an exhibit on the history of Chocolate that was very interesting. The rest of the museum was pretty good too. It was a little bit weird because some of the exhibits were live animals, some were fake, and some you couldn't tell whether they were alive or plastic for a very long time.

We also went to the Free Expression Tunnel at NC State. This is a tunnel where grafitti is permitted and free speech is encouraged. When we went there in the middle of the day, there was a group of kids from the YMCA having a spray-painting activity there, which I found kind of strange.

The next day we went driving through the pouring rain to go see some of the largest pieces of furniture ever. In Jamestown, NC there is a very large highboy chest of drawers that is many stories high.

There is another very large chest of drawers in nearby High Point, NC. We had a bit harder time finding this one, but eventually succeeded.

We also went to nearby Thomasville, NC - home of Thomasville Furniture - to see the largest Duncan Phyfe chair.

The next day we went to the temple. It was very lovely, inside and out.

That day we also went to Pixar's UP in 3D. It was a good movie, but seeing it in 3D is not worth any extra money. It doesn't add too much, but the movie was very entertaining anyways. That day we also went to a few fun places around Durham. We went to Locopops, which is an organic popsicle shop that has many fun and unique flavors, including many that combine distinctly mexican flavors with other flavors - like Lime Chili, Tamarind Lemonade, Cherry hibiscus, etc. I had Tangerine Pomegranite, which was very different, and Bethany had Chocolate Brownie. We also went to a Panaderia and got pan dulces which were delicious.

On Monday we went to the coast. We went down to Kure Beach and went to the Aquarium there.

We went to the beach at the state park and had a good time. The water is so warm and pleasant, minus the icky-bicky saltiness that always lingers all over you. We didn't get too sunburned, only a little bit here and there.

The last day, Bethany and I went to Duke Gardens. It was very pretty, as always. Then Bethany flew home again! Bye Beth! Thanks for visiting!

Memorial Day

We had a great weekend. We didn't go anywhere special or do anything exciting. It was just SO nice not to have Jeran studying all the time! He passed his Doctorate Oral Exams with flying colors (of course I knew he would). So now he basically will just work in the lab for the next three years until he has enough material to graduate.

This weekend we got a lot done around the house. We also had some fun and a lot of relaxation. Jeran took Friday off work so he could relax after his exams and he watched a lot of movies and worked on my bike. I worked most of the day.

Saturday we played tennis with some friends. Ah, I'd forgotten how much fun it always is. And how quickly it gets hot here! Anyways, we played a good set and a half and lost both of them even though one of our opponents is 7 months pregnant. :) We went shopping and then later had Shish-kabobs on the grill. I also tried my hand at making homemade mozzarella sticks and they actually turned out very good - very similar to restaurant ones (freezing the cheese first is a must). Then we played some Puerto Rico, which I am terrible at, but it is a fun game anyways.

Sunday was very nice. I made cupcakes for "Cake Sunday". In Young Women's we have a dessert once a month and it is called Cake Sunday; it is very popular. I made strawberry cupcakes with sprinkles this time and they were delicious.

Monday was Memorial Day. It felt like a Saturday so I kept thinking it was going to be Sunday the next day. Anyways, we got a lot done. I cleaned the kitchen, cleaned up the office, repotted and planted some houseplants, and cleaned out the bathroom sink drain. Honestly, thoroughly cleaning out the drain is one of the grossest household jobs, but for some reason I kind of like doing it. I can't figure out why: it smells awful, it looks worse than it smells, and it can be messy with gross stuff. It doesn't make any sense to me that I don't get queasy at all doing that job but if I see blood or damage to our relatively clean and amazing bodies, I get light-headed and short of breath. Anyways, I got some good drain-cleaning experience growing up having a sink in my bedroom that I would always do my hair at. Our sinks these days are never as bad as that was to clean out. Thankfully!

Jeran has been working on making two footstools. They have been partly done for a long time now but Monday he sanded and put the first coat of stain on them. I told him he can't start another big project until he is finished with them. He is really excited about getting into picture frame-making using his new router. That would be a great skill if he can learn to do that well.

We also went and saw the new Star Trek movie yesterday. It was great! I really liked it. Chris Pine is one of my more favorite actors and I think the casting was perfect for all characters. The computer graphics were amazingly well done and the plot was good. It had just the right amount of humor and seriousness. Also, it had a good balance of old and new for people who loved the previous Star Trek stuff and people who hadn't. Jeran and I watched most of the Star Trek movies but I never watched the TV show. Our favorite one of the movies is Star Trek IV - where they go back in time to get the whale. That is a great movie.

One more week of early-morning Seminary to go! Jeran is so excited for it to be over! What will he do with all of his time now?!

Update

Hi all. I know I haven't updated my blog in forever but I haven't done anything fabulous that I thought I should write about. Anyways, I'll just give a routine update.

At the beginning of the month we went to Utah for Lisa's wedding and it was great. We got to go to lots of fun wedding stuff, see lots of family, and go through the Manti Temple, which was a highlight for me. It was a very short trip and while we would have liked more time to visit with friends and family, it was a good time. Here's a picture of most of the Corey family from when we were in Utah:


Jeran has been studying like mad for the upcoming oral defense of his candidacy exam grant (the written grant passed - hooray!). He has been staying home a lot of the time just study-study-studying, no thanks to me, I'm sure. Yesterday he made flash cards or amino acids whose structure he has to memorize so I'm going to make a fun drawing/guessing game or something to help him study. :) He'll be so thrilled! Anyways, his defense is the end of next week and then (hopefully!) he'll be done done done with that. After that, it's just working in the lab all summer.

We have a lot of fun stuff planned for this summer. We have a few friends coming in June and then July and we hope to have some family come visit too. Since I am in the YW, I get to go to Girl's Camp and then later we hope to make it to Europe! Wowee! And we will do some work somwhere in there too. Luckily we have pretty flexible work schedules.