School's Out

School ended a few weeks ago, which means no more classes or teaching for a few months! Yay! I've been keeping fairly busy though (trying to finish up thesis-proposal-related paperwork to make sure I'm on track and getting things together for research). So, even though I'll be doing research all summer, I'll have a lot more time for fun activities.

For my research, I'll be going to northern California soon to collect weathered rock samples for my thesis research. We'll be in the mountains; it's supposed to be a place with amazing scenery! After samples are collected, which shouldn't take long, the rest of my summer will be spent doing lab work.

We're also planning a road trip back to Minnesota for a bit this summer, because I haven't been home since December. Not only will it give Erik and I a chance to hang out with family and friends, it will be a nice escape from the 100+ degree heat of Las Vegas. My family also has a ton of June/July/August birthdays, so I'm hoping to be back around birthday party time to be able to see everyone!

That also means that I have a ton of cards to make before we leave! This weekend I'm hoping to do a bunch of anniversary cards and start planning the birthday ones. I feel like most of my blog posts as of late have been about cards, so I'm contemplating the idea of starting a separate blog for that. Any thoughts?

I'm also making it a goal to be more active this summer. I didn't ever exercise while in Morris, but I didn't own a car and you could walk anywhere; I also played intramural volleyball. Here in Vegas, walking places is pretty much out of the question (I've got a 20-30 minute commute to campus), and as far as I know intramurals are for undergrads (not to mention, I don't need more reasons to be on campus all day!!). So yeah... although I never really "exercised" in the past, I know I'm definitely less active than I used to be.

Erik and I are going to try going on more walks and hopefully make time to play tennis or go swimming. I bought a jump rope today as part of this "do stuff!" idea. Maybe I'll even start trying yoga (we already have a mat and a ball).