Here We Go...

Tomorrow begins the first day of the last year of my education. I start my senior year for my bachelor's degree. This time next year I will be done with college and working at an architecture firm in Salt Lake City (this is what I keep telling myself until it happens).

I'm nervous. I don't know what to do with myself. The senior year in the interior design program is intense. All I've heard from past students are horror stories, and yet I'm jumping in with both feet; and then some.

For the last couple of weeks I've been exciting and nervous all at the same time and it has caused some weird butterflies to fly inside. Regardless of how I feel - it all starts tomorrow. Deep breaths. I can do this. I can do this.

We're In Cahoots...

Jake and I competed in the Cahoots Duo Challenge last week (a 5k mud run with obstacles). It was a blast!

We decided to dress like the Hunger Games characters in training so we ordered these awesome shirts online - the same shirts Katniss and Peeta wore while training for the games. We figured since they won those games, our shirts might give us a little advantage to winning these games ;-)

A few of the obstacles included mud pits, balance beams, a 10 foot wall to climb over, tires to run through with your leg tied to your partner's, a cargo net to climb over, etc. You got more points for teamwork, costumes, and overall spirit.

Our absolute favorite obstacle... the zip-line. We stood in line long enough to watch 99% of people fail...

Most people looked like this...

And most didn't even make it halfway. But Jake and I? We rocked that zip-line! Even got an ovation at the end. 

Although the event wasn't organized super well, we enjoyed the challenge and the adventure together.

And we'll probably come back again next year - check out these stellar medals we got at the end! Ya, they are magnetic and attach to your partners. So sweet.

Paddle Boards...

There was a single's ward activity last weekend up at Bear Lake. Jake and I went... just not exactly with the ward. We decided that instead of waiting in a line of cars for an hour just to pay $5 to park, squish on one little beach, and hang out with awkward single's (those whose reasons for being single are easily determined), we would enjoy the lake on our own terms...

So we went paddle boarding! :-) It was crazy fun! I did fall off once on account of high winds and waves, but I eventually got the hang of it. The best part? Learning how to dive! I've never been able to, and now that I'm 21 I'm embarrassed to learn - especially in a pool where other people can watch an awkward adult dive into a pool from her knees. A few weeks ago Jake and I had Dan and Sharli's pool all to ourselves and he took the opportunity to give me a few small knee dive lessons. It took a lot of convincing on his part because I was sure he would laugh at me and I was already embarrassed. Jake was very patient and did a very good job treating me like he probably did the three year old he taught in swim lessons ;-) 

Jake was very excited for me to have the chance to dive off a paddle board and it turns out it wasn't as difficult as I thought! He said I looked great!

If you're also having trouble diving, think of it as a handstand. That was the best advice I've ever received. **Thank you, Jake!**

Jake also fell once - however he deleted the incredible falling picture that I snagged and sent me this one instead. I guess it hurt his pride a little bit (pardon my finger in the way).

And finally we have another picture of us together! I think that brings us to a grand total of four after almost a year of dating... We're pathetic. 

We also sat on the beach and enjoyed Jake's lovely sunburn from last week's lake activity. It was another wonderful weekend spend with a wonderful boy :-)

Kayaking Trip...

About a month ago Jake and I borrowed our friends Jeff and Katy's kayak. We started at a little pond by there home and ended up at Utah Lake, only about a mile and a half. We considered going across the lake right then, but thought better of it and decided that one day this summer we would go all the way across and back.

This Saturday was the day. The weather was suppose to be slightly cloudy, perfect to avoid crazy heat and sunburns. The night before we looked up the distance; 6 miles across to total 12 miles. I have to admit, I was more than a little intimidated. We had only ever gone 1.5 miles and now we were shooting for 12??

(Jake was sure to speak in an Aussie ascent to match his new hat)

We decided to play it safe and kayak for an hour and then evaluate whether we should continue on or turn around. 

Turns out we were faster than we thought. An hour into the kayaking and we were more than half-way; maintaining an average speed of 3.8 miles per hour with our fastest pace at 6 miles per hour. Not too shabby.

We made it across in an hour and a half! On the other side we enjoyed lunch, some relaxing, and some swimming before we headed back. Jake made a very noble goal to go the entire way back without stopping. He stuck to it but couldn't completely close his hands for the rest of the night :-)

We had an incredible time! It was a beautiful day and we had sooo much fun together! Like always :-)

Hobbit Caves...

Jake and I had the most amazing time camping this weekend! Late Friday night we drove up Logan Canyon and found a wonderful little spot to camp. We didn't get in until 1:30 or so, but with the cold front that came in, the weather was absolutely perfect!

As always, Logan Canyon was beautiful...

Saturday we slept in and then spent the day relaxing. We headed to USU campus where Jake reminisced and showed me around where he spent his glory days. It's a beautiful campus and it was fun to learn a little bit more about Jake's college self (which he misses).

We then went to hang out with our friends Dan and Sharli at a pool party/bbq. The weather was so great afterwards that we decided to just head back up the canyon and spend another night. Sunday we enjoyed a couple of lovely hikes and then headed up to Bear Lake for a scenic drive and lunch.

On the way back through Logan, we were driving the back roads looking for a nice park to take a nap at. Instead, we ran into Dan and Sharli who were on their way to go climbing - so naturally we joined them.

What a cute little family!

And Jake and I were still able to squeeze in a little relaxation on the side of the road... Sharli thought we looked like hobos, but we enjoyed it. Plus, we didn't have to crane our necks to watch them climb - a win-win situation.

**(just as a side note so I don't get in trouble... I didn't really take any of these pictures - just the one of Dan and Sharli. I don't ever think to take pictures until after a fun event, so I ripped these off the internet. Go Kyra!).

Midnight Project...

Mom and I stayed up late last Friday working on a project.

Before...

After...

They don't all have pictures in them yet, but I figured they would get filled faster if we had to look at empty frames on the wall rather than them sitting stacked in a pile in the office. 

My favorite part of the whole process? Sitting with mom until 1:30am going through old pictures. Boy do we have some funny ones! The early morning hours may have made them a bit more funny than normal, but we definitely shared some great laughs. 

Article Analysis...

Watching TV Can Lower Children's Self Esteem, Study Finds

I read this article and I like where they think they were going with it. However, I found it to be written very poorly. So naturally I decided to tell them how I felt in a comment after the article. This is what I said...

I find this article weak in its analysis of the study. Had I been willing to purchase the full text of the study I may have found the actual source more credible, but next time I'd like to see mention of how the study came to the a fore mentioned conclusions, rather than just the opinion of the author if this article.

This article makes it seem as though they are claiming that there is a causal relationship between television viewing and self-esteem, without regard to other possible confounding variables. Did they take into account the length of time the children spent watching television and how this may correlate with neglectful parenting - which probably affects self esteem more than television. Did they have historical controls in their observation to show past and present television effects? What about a control group to compare the findings to? How is it that no focus can be given to the type of programming viewed but then a statement like "Parents can help counter these negative effects by choosing programming that reflects positive values and refrains from promoting stereotypes" be made? 

Next time let's introduce some statistical back up to the conclusions stated and it will probably make this article more credible and worth considering.