Uinta Camping Highlights

Nathaniel, Grant, and I went camping with my family in the Uinta Mountains this weekend. It was one of the best camping trips ever!

1. Eaten by mosquitoes
Tenille's mosquito bites: 27
Days of itching: 3
Camping memories: eternal

2. Trying out our new baby backpackHours searching for backpack: 12

Number of stores visited: 15
Exploring nature with our son: priceless

3. Hiking Bald Mountain
Elevation: 11,943 (highest peak in the western Uintas)
Round-trip miles: 4
View at the top: breathtaking

4. Spotting Ute Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis)
Number of Ute Ladies' Tresses in the world: ??? but they're a threatened orchid
Number of Ute Ladies' Tresses we spotted: approximately 50
Nat's excitement: unparalleled
(F.Y.I. Nat would love to study the evolution of different orchid species at Penn State.)

5. Finding a nesting Bald Eagle on our hike to Hoover Lake
Number of Bald Eagles: ??? also threatened
Miles to the lake: 2
Times I said I would miss the Utah Mountains: infinitely many

9 months and growing

Grant turned nine-months-old yesterday. He is getting so big, I can hardly believe it!

Birth weight: 7 1/2 lbs
Current weight: 19 lbs
% change: 150%

Grant is in the 25th-percentile for his weight. I know, that's not very believable considering his thunder thighs and knee-rolls. Perhaps being in the 10th-percentile for height holds some explanatory power for the thighs and knees.

Birth length: 18 in
Current length: 27 in
% change: 50%

Hmm, interesting comparison.Favorite activities: crawling, standing, babbling, and playing with his bathtub. I know it's weird, but he could sit in his bathtub for hours.

Missing Our Old Apartment

Many of you are aware that we had to move out of our old one-bedroom apartment and into another crummy one-bedroom apartment. Our contract ended May 31, but we were knee-deep in thesis writing and didn't want to leave the area until mid-August. Due to a change in management, it would have cost us an additional $800 to stay in our apartment for two more months. So we put boxed up our stuff, put it in storage, and moved into a friends' apartment while they were gone selling pest control for the summer. We've been living here for a month and a half, and we terribly miss three things about our old apartment.

1. Our Red Couch. I tried to get all of our current living room furniture in this picture. The only piece of furniture that belongs to us is the dark brown piano; every other piece of light tan furniture belongs to our friends. So, I miss the color of my beautiful red couch (it has been featured in other pictures on this blog). Sometimes it's difficult to determine where the floor ends and furniture begins in this place. I also miss having a couch that doesn't require a slip cover.

2. Our Dishwasher. I didn't think that I would mind washing dishes by hand, but I hate it! It's a never-ending task; it seems that there are always dirty dishes in the sink. Oh how I long to have a dishwasher again.

3. Closet space. Number of closets in our old apartment: 7. Number of closets in our new apartment: 1/2. Seriously, there are 1 1/2. There are a stack of boxes in our bedroom because there is no closet space.

Luckily, we will have a three-bedroom apartment in PA. What will we do with all the extra space?

Save the Date

What: Farewell to Utah Party
When: Thursday, August 14, 6pm
Where: Tenille's parent's house (call or email for directions)

If any of you will be in Layton on this date, we would love to have you come!

Word Count Winner

My thesis had 37,109 words! Congratulations Jen A. for your awesome guess. What was your strategy? I'll talk to you about your prize later this week! Thanks to all who participated!

One Fine Week

A few things to :) about this week:

1. I passed my thesis defense with no tears! It actually went very well and I even received a few nice complements from my professors. I am so excited to be done with my master's degree (almost)! If any of you are thinking about pursuing a master's degree, I would recommend the non-thesis route. However, all the hard work was definitely worth it! I love the high I get from working hard and succeeding! It's addicting.

2. I ran my first 5K race within my goal time! I just wanted to finish in under thirty minutes and I made it! According to my watch, it took me 29:51. According to my shoe chip, 29:33. It was awesome and I am ready to run again! Thanks Melissa for all your encouragement and for running with me each week. Here are some pictures (unfortunately Nat didn't get a picture of me crossing the finish line, I guess I was too fast for him)!3. The Fourth of July! Grant loved the parade and the fireworks.