Garland Wheat and Beet Days

So Haley and I went up to my parents house on Saturday. My parents had all but two children there for a party. It also happened to be Garland City "Wheat and Beet" Days. This is one of those old town annual parties that happen throughout the State. We were enlisted to go at 7:00 a.m. to do a 2 mile walk. Alicia ran the 5k, and she finished 5th overall and 2nd in her age group. The rest of us, “the walkers,” were of course behind her. Next, we had a breakfast that had the best pancakes. The parade was to follow. It was not as good as years past. Then, we relaxed after being generously provided with pizza for lunch. Thank you Mom and Dad.

Then we went to a firemen’s water fight. This is where Tremonton and Garland fire departments compete with each other to see who is the biggest and the best. Tremonton is usually the dominant force. In past years and including this year, the crowd is also soaked. It is a nice way to test out the capacity of the trucks, while allowing a cool down from a hot day. We returned back to my parents home for dinner and more relaxing. We had some very good socialization. (And the corn from the garden was delicious.)
Thanks to Mom and Dad for a wonderful party.
Here are some pictures. ENJOY!!!

The Cost of an Education

It's August now and that means we all go back to school soon. This year I am not only going to have anxiety over being the teacher, but I am also having a little anxiety over being a student again. I am starting an MEd program through Utah State University. It seemed like the right thing to do last spring when I applied, but now I'm a little nervous. Will I be a good online student? Is the program really what I want to do? Is it going to be too overwhelming to manage taking two classes a semester while piling on more at school by teaching on my prep as well as doing music lessons two nights a week? Can I really handle being an Aggie? Ugh. I go to an orientation in Logan this week. Hopefully my mind will be set at ease, at least academically, and I'll know a little bit more about what I'm getting into.

James and I are very blessed and we'll be able to both be in school at the same time with very little financial stress. Because of James' military service, his tuition is paid for! (Although he had a scare this year with some scholarship cuts. His 3.8 GPA wasn't quite good enough for the limited number of scholarships that are offered through the Guard. He was able to apply for a tuition waiver, though, and that was accepted. Thank goodness!) For me, teaching on my prep should bring in enough extra to cover my own tuition, as long as we stick to our current budget and spending habits.

Anyway, I've been thinking about tuition and the cost of an education. What James pays in tuition at the U is a lot more than what I paid 6 years ago (Gasp! I'm old!). In fact, what I paid then is about what it costs to go to SLCC now. I was curious and started looking at what other schools charge for tuition for 1 semester. Here is what I found (based on a full load of 15 credit hours, for residents):

Utah Schools (greatest to least) -
University of Utah ----- $2872
Utah State University ----- $2413
Brigham Poo University ----- $2145 (unless you're a non-member and then it jumps to $4290)
SLCC ----- $1395

Schools Outside of Utah (least to greatest) -
UCLA ----- $4500
Florida ----- $5300
Stanford ----- $6200
North Carolina ----- $2812 (unless you're a non-resident and then it jumps to $11,756)
Princeton ----- $17,000
Harvard ----- $26,000


Holy Cow! School is expensive.

For those of you within eyesight of this blog who have not yet started college . . .

START SAVING NOW!!!!!

Wyatt!

James and I tended Wyatt on Saturday (sort of . . . my mom tended him for a little while, while we were helping her with some stuff). He is cute!

24th of July - Petersen Party

We spent some time with the Petersen Family on the 24th of July. LeeAnn and Kim invited us to the Scout Pavilion in Ogden. We played badminton and ate food. Some people did the climbing wall and slip-n-slide. Travis showed us his Japan trip pictures.

Here are some picutres:

South Dakota

I'm a little behind on blogging, but we went on a little road trip last week. Here are some of the highlights:

• We left our house on Thursday afternoon and headed to Casper, Wyoming. We stayed the next 2 nights in Custer, South Dakota. We returned on Sunday in one long day, traveling through South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Utah.


• Wyoming has really cool windmills!


• We stopped at Mormon Handcart Historic Site at Martin's Cove and Devil's Gate. The visitor center and everything was closed, but we could still walk and drive around. It was a neat experience to see where the Martin handcart company suffered so much during one winter. I don't know that I could have done it. I don't know that I could have been a pioneer at all. I may have had to just say, "forget it." I do have a few pioneer ancestors, but I also have some "not-quite-so-pioneer" ancestors who were lucky enough to wait until after 1869 and the railroad to come to Utah.



• The next stop was Devils Tower, Wyoming. People actually climb Devils Tower and we watched them do it. As we walked up the little paved trail towards the base of the tower, two people were coming down the trail with climbing equipment and ropes hanging on their shoulders. I asked if they really made it to the top or if they were just carrying that stuff around to look cool. They laughed at me and said, "Yes, we made it clear to the top. It took us about 4 or 5 hours."


• At this point and throughout the day Friday, we started seeing tons and tons of Corvettes. We finally asked someone what the deal was and they told us there is a Corvette rally similar to the Sturgis Harley rally. During that weekend in July, if you own a Corvette, you drive it across South Dakota, from Sioux Falls to Spearfish (and then continue on to Devils Tower apparently). That was interesting. There were a few really old-style ones.


• We at dinner at the Powder House Restaurant. James decided to try one of the specials - apple glazed pheasant. He said it was really good. I tried a piece and thought it tasted like greasy turkey. I had the other special which was chicken cordon bleu with a twice baked potato. I know that sounds really boring next to pheasant, but it was tasty.



• We visited Mt. Rushmore Friday night and then again Saturday morning. On Friday night, we got there at dusk, just before the lighting ceremony program they do each night. During the program, they show a little patriotic movie, light up the heads on the mountain, and then recognize any service members in the audience. It was fun! When we went back Saturday morning we took some better pictures and walked around a little bit more than the night before.


• The only not-so-interesting part of our trip was Badlands National Park. I think this may be this most boring national park I have ever been to. If you are planning a trip to the Black Hills area of South Dakota, I would suggest skipping it. Plus, there are killer grasshoppers here that will attack you!! Beware!


• We traveled through Custer State Park. Custer State Park is probably the most interesting and pretty-scenaried section of the Black Hills. We drove through a herd of probably 200 bison. They were large and very close to the car. I had to roll up the window for fear of being sneezed on by the large creatures. There are some fun, narrow, windy roads to take you to "the Needles." This is the location where a South Dakota senator originally wanted Mt. Rushmore to be. It's really pretty with a lake and tunnels and big pointy rocks.

• On Saturday night we went to the Crazy Horse Monument. At night, they do a laser show on the mountain. Crazy Horse is interesting for several reasons. One, it is dedicated to American Indians and not to dead white men. Two, it is interesting because it is entirely funded by private donations and has never accepted any federal or state funds to continue it's work. Three, it is interesting because it is HUGE. The four heads of Mt. Rushmore would fit into just Crazy Horse's head, let alone his body or his horse. Four, it is interesting because the man who began carving it reminded me of Bob Anderson. Interesting indeed!



• On Sunday, we headed for home after stopping again at the Baker's Bakery in Custer for breakfast. We had a giant cinnamon roll. Nummy! Sunday was a long day. We left Custer around 10:00 a.m. and pulled into our driveway around 11:15 p.m. Our bums were tired of sitting in the car and the car was tired of eating bugs.



• Overall . . . great trip! Lots of fun! Where should we go next, James?