Bucket List #26

#26. Get my Master's degree.

I finally defended my thesis in March of 2012 and officially graduated in May!  I even have the fancy hard-cover bound copy of my thesis sitting on my bookshelf now.  Boy, oh boy, does it feel good to be done with that!

There's my brick of a thesis all ready to ship to the graduate college!

It's official!

Bucket List #19n

The 19th item on my Bucket List is to visit certain national parks.  And yes, there are many sub-sets to this item on the list.

#19n. Camp in or visit Zion National Park, Utah.

Erik and I camped in Zion National Park (for the second time) during Spring Break of 2010.  We relaxed and went on some easy hikes and even had some misadventures (note: do not buy wet fire wood, it leads to crabbiness).

Ahh! Don't let go!

Near our campsite

Misadventures with the infamous wet fire wood

Got to try out the new tent

Throwing rocks into the river, always a good time.

In May of 2011, we went to Zion National Park again to go hiking with our friends Jamey and Kim.  We didn't camp at Zion, but we hiked Angel's Landing (a first for Erik).

Walter's Wiggles

At the top of Angel's Landing

I Need to Get Out of Nevada!

I love the sunlight. I love the warmth. But oh dear god, I need to get out of this state!!! Lately, school has been stressing me out big time. I have a lot of responsibilities, which I agreed to take on, but it's turning out to be a lot of stuff. I don't like to be a bitter and down person, but I need to vent. So here goes:

• People here do not know how to drive! I've complained about this many times, but it never ceases to tick me off. Today Erik and I decided to avoid an exit that is always backed up at a certain time of day. Instead, we end up at a light that says "No turn on red," so logically we stopped to wait for the green light in order to make our right turn. Three, that's right three! cars pulled around us on the shoulder of the road to turn right through the red!! Ugh... so much for taking the less frustrating route home!

• I suspect NV Energy is trying to steal our money. Two months ago we got an electricity bill that was $50 more than the highest bill we'd ever had. We were shocked by it, but figured that it was possible that we used the air conditioning a bit too much that month. So, we took efforts to cut back the following month, and the next bill was back to the normal range. We have not changed those habits. Today I opened our bill to find out that it had skyrocketed again! There's no way we used that much electricity (we even had days without air conditioning because it was cooler outside!).
• Nevada is brown. And dry.
  
• Nevada/Las Vegas makes a bunch of the "This is the worst place to live/Places with the worst water/Most dangerous neighborhoods/Dumbest people" lists. At the same time I see the other sides of those lists with Minnesota near the top for "Best places to live/Cleanest tap water/Smartest people" lists...
• My best friends aren't here. Erik's best friends aren't here.
• There are giant cockroaches. Enough said on that topic.
• I get more headaches here because it's arid and I suck at drinking water.
• Our neighbors have sketchy friends who like to publicly urinate on the tree outside. I am thankful that I realized what was going on, and looked away in time to avoid that image.
• We only get one channel that works all the time here, and it's FOX. Enough said.
• I'm sick of hearing/seeing Sharron Angle and Harry Reid advertisements. Harry Reid, your state is screwed and I don't really think you can fix it. Sharron Angle, you are an extreme moron and should be nowhere near public office.

Oiy... if you made your way through that mess, I apologize for the bitterness and the giant unloading. I'm hoping that things will start shaping up soon, and my outlook on stuff will improve along with it.

Photo: http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Nevada_Test_Site/

Appletini

Erik and I went out to eat at the Yard House on Friday night. They supposedly have the world's largest selection of draft beer, so you can imagine why Erik wanted to go. I, on the other hand, am not a fan of beer so I tested out their martini menu. I love sour-apple-flavored things, and after having one of their apple martinis, we set out to make our own.

1 part sweet & sour mix
1 part citrus vodka
1 1/2 parts sour apple pucker

Shake over ice, and enjoy!

Bucket List #1

Some time ago, I started to write a bucket list. It may or may not have had something to do with the release of the movie Bucket List (which I never actually saw, to tell the truth). I just thought that it sounded like a fun list to make; I really love making lists. As of a week ago, I was able to cross something off!

#1. Live in a state other than Minnesota for at least a year.

I moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to get my master's degree in geology. If all goes as planned, I'll be done in the spring (or summer?) of 2011. Then I'll be able to cross off #26 on my list.