Life and School

Fall semester has begun. Life is interesting. Those sweet, warm summer days that we savored are almost completely behind us, and it's not easy to let go.

I tend to get nervous when fall comes. I don't know what it is exactly, but I'd guess it has to do with "back to school" anxiety. Even though I don't have to endure the sheer terror of middle- and high-school ever again, the worry still returns to me automatically each fall. That's not to say that college isn't hard, but it doesn't cause the same stress.

I'm moving up in school. Instead of taking silly classes like math and English 1010, I'm now getting into real English courses, or what one might call "upper division" classes. How about a class called Modern English Grammars? Or even one called Advanced Literary Theory? Well, both are on the menu for this sememster, and I think I'm going to have a lot on my plate.

Dave, on the other hand, will probably have a lot of fun this semester. He's getting into stuff that he is really going to use when he starts teaching. He's taking a class about PE, and another where he'll learn how to get hired as a teacher. I'm excited for him!

So that's our little "update" on life and school.

Also, I recently realized something about Dave and me. We always seem to get into stuff at least 2 years after it has already been popular. For instance, our game systems are all outdated compared to whatever is new these days (not that we play that many games, but still, I'm trying to make a point here). We finally gave in to the cell-phone obsession years after everyone else already had them, and we still don't have unlimited texts or anything like that. We don't have video iPods, or even iPods at all...just our little 1-gig mp3 players, which most would laugh at. And of course, there is our most recent past-time: watching "The Office." It was new 3 years ago, but we have only just started to watch it and discover it's sweet, sweet goodness. We finished the 2nd season last night...and we LOVE it! :) Hopefully we'll have enough time to watch more before the semester really gets into full swing and we have zero time to do anything like that.

That's it for today. Love you all!

Dave and Karen at Bridalveil Falls

We went a little bit up the canyon yesterday to go for a walk and have a little picnic. This is one of our favorite spots. I know scenic pictures are a dime a dozen, so mostly here are some pictures of us hanging out at the falls and even climbing up them a little bit. The water was so cold, but actually quite refreshing. There were so many people there, too, wading in the water. It was so pretty up there, so no wonder so many people wanted to check it out.








In other news, I am now a college graduate. I've been working toward my Bachelors but since I had the credits for my Associates as of the end of Spring semester, I figured I might as well get it. So now I have an Associates degree. I guess that now I have something to show for all those years I've spent going to classes, huh?

Deer Creek

This weekend, Dave and I really wanted to get away on a little "vacation." At this point, I suppose it was more of a need than a want. But where do you go for a change of scene when you can barely afford gas as it is?

We drove up the canyon a little ways and reached a lovely reservoir called Deer Creek. Mostly, this is a great place for water sports, and people with boats, and we most certainly do not have a boat or a jetski or anything. But we figured that it was the closest thing to "the beach" as we were going to get. We explored the area, looking for a good place to set up our blanket and get ready for a swim. Mostly, we found steep, rocky beaches. We tried another part of the reservoir and saw a wonderful little cove with a private dock donned with "no parking" signs, but this wasn't a very good spot to set up camp either. Eventually we found an actual beach, and although there was already a family hanging out there, Dave and I set up our stuff a little ways away from them and got ready to get in the water.

It felt cold at first, but not too intolerable to swim. Once we grew used to the temperature, we thought the water was perfect. We swam around the shore (wearing water moccasins to protect our feet) and followed the rocky edge to the little cove we had found earlier. The water was nice and warm here. We decided to climb onto the dock and lay in the sun for a while, staying until we'd almost entirely dried off. We swam back to the beach after that, passing a kind of reservoir "coast guard" boat with a policeman in it. He watched us but didn't say or do anything. Once we reached our blanket again, we walked back to our car to fetch our cooler so we could eat lunch. As we passed the cove from the land, we noticed that the policeman's ship was parked by the dock where we'd been lying in the sun. He had missed us "trespassing" on his private dock by a matter of minutes...I'm glad we left it when we did :)

We ate and then returned to the water with one of those blow-up rafts you're supposed to use in a swimming pool. We floated around for a while longer and then started to get tired, ready to head home.

The unfortunate side-effect of staying in the sun too long hit us after we got home: we had both managed to get pretty nasty sunburns despite our efforts to put on sunscreen. We had a great time anyway, and felt at least a little more ready to face another week after our mini vacation.

Threes

Local Stupidity has been updated.

Here is something I found on another blog and have decided to waste my time utterly filling out (hey, I'm at work, and bored!).

3 Joys:
1. My family and friends. This, of course, includes Dave :) And I really love hanging out with my sisters on movie night, and board games with family.
2. Our new apartment.
3. Going on walks with Dave, and talking about stuff together.

3 Fears
1. Death.
2. Complete darkness. Especially when out in nature, like the forest or desert at night.
3. Bugs!

3 Goals
1. Publish a novel. Then, publish more.
2. Have a family.
3. Get my Bachelors in English.

3 current obsessions
1. Shopping, and clothes in particular. But when ISN'T this an obsession of mine? Someone might be proud to know that I have sworn off buyng clothes for a while...and it's hard. I'm pretty terrible, but shopping makes me feel better...
2. Flip-flops. I don't think I've gone a day this whole summer NOT wearing them.
3. Dessert food. I'm especially into pies lately...and those 100 calorie cheesecake bars.

3 Random and surprising facts about myself
1.I just had two more cavities filled...and now there are so many fillings in my mouth that I have completely lost count. Yes, that means double digits. And what's the worst part? I take really good care of my teeth!
2. I always have to wash my feet before getting into bed.
3. The place where I work smells like sewage right now and I want to throw up.

Maybe I should

I've been feeling a little tired and sluggish lately. It's hot out, and it's hot all day at work, and I just come home and want to crash on the couch or the computer and do NOTHING. It's too bad. It's summer, and I have more spare time than I usually do, but I end up wasting the little time I have vegging out.

So I'm making a promise to myself, and I figure that having it somewhere in writing will help me keep the promise. I am going to work on my writing projects EVERY DAY from now on, no matter how little it is. I have so many neglected writing projects, mostly due to lack of inspiration, but nothing helps to get you thinking about writing and brainstorming more than sitting down in front of the document and thinking about it. Like I said...it might not be a lot or writing each day, but anything is better than nothing!

I'm never going to reach my goals if I keep saying "someday I'll get it done..."