In the Halls of Power

This past week Jackson had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. for a few days. The trip had a few purposes: First, to visit a few schools that he had applied to, and second, to do some work in preparation for the internship he'll have this summer.

The first school that he was able to see was Catholic University. He was very impressed by the campus and the friendly students that he saw on campus. The location of the school is also great, it's about 10 minutes from the city center by metro, and the campus is very close the metro line. During his tour he was able to see many parts of the law school and would love to attend a school with such great facilities. The best news that he got from them is that they have already made a decision in regards to his acceptance and he should be expecting a response "any day now."

American University is the other school that Jackson has applied to in the D.C. area. The campus is in a really nice area of town, but is not as accessible by metro. The campus is very nice, but not as impressive to Jackson as was Catholic University. The school is ranked pretty high, and we'd be really excited if he could go there.

In preparation for the summer, Jackson was able to meet with a Bishop of a ward who will be helping us find summer housing. He was also able to meet with Nick, the guy who got Jackson his internship with Senator Kennedy. They had lunch, and then Nick showed Jackson Senator Kennedy's private office. He said that it was amazing. He was able to see unreleased photos of the Kennedy brothers and other priceless artifacts that are in his office. Pretty exciting.

All in all it was a very successful trip and we are glad that he was able to get so much done and that he came home safely...cause I was missing him pretty dang bad (last sentence written by Jackson).

Snowshoe Adventure

With school back in the saddle, Celeste and I thought we would take our last Saturday of freedom and do something fun with it. We did. With our faithful friends Evan and Katie Stoker by our side, we snowshoed through the wilderness of Logan Canyon.

For those of you out there wondering if it would be worth the time and effort, let me just say that snowshoeing is a fun little activity. But you've got to make it fun. I think I would bore myself out of snowshoeing if I wasn't able to pretend I was in a James Bond movie from time to time. And during this trip, we found that jumping off of large boulders and small cliff ledges can be an enjoyable activity as well and made for a good time.

If jumping off stuff isn't really your thing (I can just see my mother now, tumbling to her death on my bad advice), bring a camera. We actually moved rather slowly because I had to stop every few minutes to capture a moment, a skyline, or puma. The scenery ready to be immortalized is worth it by itself.

For an extra good time, bring a dog. Dogs turn an ordinary winter hike into an Arctic adventure. We saw 5 dogs on the trails. 5 dogs. Just about everyone up there had a faithful companion except for us. And why? Because those people knew well that dogs make life better.

The "Top 8 of 2008"

A blog. Yes. This is it. We're actually doing it. We are bloggers. No more procrastination. No more sitting on the sidelines. We're in, baby, and we're here to stay.

This is, in fact, our New Year's Resolution. We figured it's time to abandon our years of seclusion and reclusive behavior. We're such an adorable couple - why hide it? (If you doubt the veracity of this claim, refer to our profile picture.)

To start things off, we thought we'd offer you our "Top 8 of 2008". For us, 2009 couldn’t hold more promise. Jackson will be getting his degree from Utah State, we'll be moving to Washington DC in May for an internship on Capitol Hill, and come August we'll be starting a 3-year law school journey that will undoubtedly shape the rest of our lives. But before that exciting future unfolds before us, we'd like to take a moment and reflect on some of the highlights of 2008. Here they are (in no particular order):

1. November – President Obama. By defeating John McCain, Barack Obama became the first African-American to be elected president. In October, we had the opportunity to canvass for Obama in Grand Junction, Colorado. The experience reminded us both of being missionaries again. There were a few warm welcomes, but we were also threatened and cursed at. Ah...the wicked always take the truth to be hard.

2. November – Law schools applications! That may not sound that exciting, but it was definitely an important and defining moment in our lives. Jackson applied to 12 schools across the country, most of which are located back east. His LSAT score was lower than he wanted it to be, but we banked all our hopes on his sterling GPA and outstanding resume.

3. February – The fire. We don’t mean to say that this was one of our favorite or most cherished experiences of the year, but it certainly deserves headlines. We lost most of our belongings and were forced to live with Jackson's parents for over a month while we pieced our life back together after a devastating fire tore through our apartment while we were at the temple on a Saturday afternoon. We wouldn’t want to live through it again, but we're grateful for the humility it taught us and for how it brought us closer together.


4. March – Jackson was elected Student Body Vice President at Utah State! The campaign took great effort and was challenging on so many levels, but was all worth it when he was announced the winner. Our lives have been largely shaped by this new involvement in student government, but it's been a wonderful experience with several perks (like a shiny nameplate!)

5. May – Casa sweet Casa. On May 31, we bought our first house together. It seems a little crazy for a young couple like us to buy a house in the middle of one of the worst housing crises in American history, but for some reason, everything just added up and felt right. We bought a cute little 3-bedroom 3-bathroom house in the NW part of town in Logan, and have been very happy here.

6. March – New York, New York! For the first time since his first year of college in 2004, Jackson returned to the Big Apple. We went back there for our Spring Break. While there, we visited Celeste's aunt and uncle in upstate Poughkeepsie, saw West Point Academy, visited old friends, toured the City College of New York (the school Jackson went to), and then some. By some strange glitch in our travel arrangements, we also spent two days in L.A.

7. June – Jackson was appointed as Campaign Manager for Morgan Bowen’s campaign for U.S. Congress. Looking back, it may not seem like a big deal to some people, seeing as Morgan got killed in the general election (a common occurrence among Democrats in Utah), but we retain that it was a significant honor and opportunity. Not many people have that kind of hands-on political experience at 23.

8. August – The big 1-year mark. We celebrated our 1-year anniversary on August 8 by flying down to Las Vegas for a 5-day stay at the Monte Carlo. We dined, we swam, we saw the Blue Man Group, and Jackson won $110 at the slots and at the blackjack tables. Shhh…don’t tell anyone. Celeste and I have now been married for about a year and half, and have only considered getting a divorce on one occassion (but we were both taking a lot of Nyquil at the time).