After a considerably long absence from the blogosphere, the Prodigal Son (Ryan) has returned. I'm not sure what it was that was keeping me from contributing to this epic story that is our life. Maybe it was that incredible long and complicated url (hearts-on-fire-ccc.blogspot.com) I was unaware that so many dashes could exist in a single line. Well what's up? Annie has wonderfully updated everyone on whats new with the Adkins so what does that leave me with? Tennis!! I'm not sure once again what sparked this new obsession but lately we can't get enough Tennis! We play at least 3 times a week, doubles, singles, and what we like to call the INNER SQUARE where you just play inside the inside serving squares. We aren't very good right now but we are improving every time and having a ton of fun doing so.
What else is there to say? Well I can't think of anything right now but I will keep you posted. In the meantime enjoy a hilarious video!
This video goes out to Annie and all the other cat lovers out there.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Update
Wow, we haven't updated this in a long time! Where to start...
March: we moved to a new apartment! It is like one block south of campus, $75 cheaper a month, and much higher ceilings. Our old apartment only had about 8' ceilings, so Ryan always felt like he was living in a tiny house (He could not see himself in the bathroom mirror because he was too tall). We also really like having windows! After we got our tax returns back, we decided to buy a scooter, which has now become our best friend! We get all sorts of perks for having a scooter. For example, we can ALWAYS get close parking spots, it is inexpensive to maintain, it saves the environment, and we get invited into super exclusive scooter-owner clubs! Unfortunately, someone backed into our scooter at a yard sale, cracking the frame. Fortunately for us, we did not have to pay for the repairs :)
April: I graduated college! Woohoo! My family got to fly out and we had lots of fun together! My last semester was really tough and I could not wait to be finished with school, but now I actually wish I was taking classes again. If only grad school were free...
May: I spent several weeks working for a company called eco scraps selling compost and potting mix at different Costcos. They are a local start-up company that makes nutrient rich soils from composted fruits and vegetables. They get expired fruits and vegetables that local grocery stores (whole foods, Costco, etc) would have thrown away and compost it, pretty sweet idea. I learned so much about gardening while I was working for them, but not really from trainings. It was more like I would try and talk to customers about their garden and try and recommend our product and they would ask me/tell me all kinds of things. Basically, I feel like we should start a garden since I have all of this new found knowledge, but we do not have a yard. I also learned that I do not like sales. I would tell Ryan (best salesperson I have ever met) my stories from work and he would laugh when I said things like "compost is not for everyone, so I only try and talk to people who are gardening or interested in gardening." Apparently when you have a great product, you have to convince EVERYONE that they need it, whether they have a yard or not. Ryan has been tearin' it up as a consultant for his company Kalood- He won an iPad for doing such a great job!
June: we got to go to North Carolina for a week vacation/ Reb's graduation! Luckily we decided to fly instead of drive across country so we got more quality time with the fam. We went to the beach, Bojangles, Cookout, bought matching Carolina shirts, etc. We watched HGTV and were inspired to redesign our whole house! We got to see Cailey/Stuart, Jenny McCoy, Megan, and Altesha and Elijah! Basically, Altesha is a babe and is the skinniest mom I know! Elijah is adorable! I wish I could have video taped him, the way he talks is so cute! We also celebrated our one year anniversary!
Currently Ryan is working at the Library and for Kalood (kalood.com, check it out) as well as finishing up a board game he made with his cousin! The game is called "Capital" and is about starting your own business and coming up with great ideas to get ahead. If you would like to play it, let us know!
After going to the beach, we became painfully aware of how pale we are, so we try and do a lot more outdoor activities! We have recently picked up tennis as a new favorite hobby! We even got pink tennis balls (1. to support the fight against breast cancer 2. so we don't get our tennis balls confused with everyone else's). We are going to stadium of fire!
March: we moved to a new apartment! It is like one block south of campus, $75 cheaper a month, and much higher ceilings. Our old apartment only had about 8' ceilings, so Ryan always felt like he was living in a tiny house (He could not see himself in the bathroom mirror because he was too tall). We also really like having windows! After we got our tax returns back, we decided to buy a scooter, which has now become our best friend! We get all sorts of perks for having a scooter. For example, we can ALWAYS get close parking spots, it is inexpensive to maintain, it saves the environment, and we get invited into super exclusive scooter-owner clubs! Unfortunately, someone backed into our scooter at a yard sale, cracking the frame. Fortunately for us, we did not have to pay for the repairs :)
May: I spent several weeks working for a company called eco scraps selling compost and potting mix at different Costcos. They are a local start-up company that makes nutrient rich soils from composted fruits and vegetables. They get expired fruits and vegetables that local grocery stores (whole foods, Costco, etc) would have thrown away and compost it, pretty sweet idea. I learned so much about gardening while I was working for them, but not really from trainings. It was more like I would try and talk to customers about their garden and try and recommend our product and they would ask me/tell me all kinds of things. Basically, I feel like we should start a garden since I have all of this new found knowledge, but we do not have a yard. I also learned that I do not like sales. I would tell Ryan (best salesperson I have ever met) my stories from work and he would laugh when I said things like "compost is not for everyone, so I only try and talk to people who are gardening or interested in gardening." Apparently when you have a great product, you have to convince EVERYONE that they need it, whether they have a yard or not. Ryan has been tearin' it up as a consultant for his company Kalood- He won an iPad for doing such a great job!June: we got to go to North Carolina for a week vacation/ Reb's graduation! Luckily we decided to fly instead of drive across country so we got more quality time with the fam. We went to the beach, Bojangles, Cookout, bought matching Carolina shirts, etc. We watched HGTV and were inspired to redesign our whole house! We got to see Cailey/Stuart, Jenny McCoy, Megan, and Altesha and Elijah! Basically, Altesha is a babe and is the skinniest mom I know! Elijah is adorable! I wish I could have video taped him, the way he talks is so cute! We also celebrated our one year anniversary!
After going to the beach, we became painfully aware of how pale we are, so we try and do a lot more outdoor activities! We have recently picked up tennis as a new favorite hobby! We even got pink tennis balls (1. to support the fight against breast cancer 2. so we don't get our tennis balls confused with everyone else's). We are going to stadium of fire!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
True Love
We had the best Valentine's Day ever! It was better than anything I had ever seen on a movie or imagined because it was real life- real love! Ryan was out yesterday afternoon planning everything while I was trying to finish up a geography paper! He is so cute! He snuck in Jamba juice into the library and we took a break from studying. I had to work til 7 last night and I had the hardest time staying focused on my paper because I just wanted to spend all day with Ryan. We walked out to our car and Ryan had hidden several presents in our car that I had to find before we went to dinner! Ryan blindfolded me and drove us to our dinner reservation. He took me to our favorite Italian restaurant - Gloria's Little Italy! We go there every Saturday night for desserts because they're half off and really delicious! We tried their non-alcoholic wine and got free Italian sodas! The restaurant was so classy - they gave out free eclairs, they had new menus for Valentine's day, and the greeter was even dressed in a tux! We went home and Ryan had decorated the whole house with candy hearts and old notes from when we were dating! It was so sweet! I'll post pictures soon! He is the best husband ever! I haven't ever been a fan of the romantic stuff, but Ryan is just so cute, I can't help but like it!
We are moving in two weeks. The apartment is right on the edge of BYU campus and we'll be saving $75/month in rent. The place is pretty nice! Unfortunately, we can't have any pets, so we now have a painting of a zebra in our living room. We named him Zeke. He looks kind of sad, so we like to write down what he could be thinking on sticky notes. It's pretty fun.
My computer has been infected with something called System Tool! It is so annoying and takes over my background and won't let me start any of the programs on my computer! Luckily, I googled how to get rid of this nasty program, and it's pretty easy. Just a warning in case anyone else gets this stupid virus.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Livin' the Life
Last Tuesday at approximately 5:41 AM I was getting ready in our room when I heard a tapping on our basement window. Obviously, I was freaked out and couldn't check to see what it was. I yelled for Ryan who was all the way on the other half of the apartment to come see what was out there. Heroically, he pulled up the blinds to discover it was merely a raccoon who had fallen into our window well and was trying to escape. Initially, I felt bad for the raccoon because he was stuck in our window and his attempts at jumping out were unsuccessful. However, I was also hoping that the raccoon would remain stuck in our window well because I knew that would be the closest thing I could have to owning a pet. Seconds later, the raccoon mustered enough strength to jump out of the well, and I haven't seen him since.
Ryan and I got a free month trial of Netflix, so we have started watching The Office from the beginning! I think we started watching it a week ago and we are now almost done with season three! When we have breaks on campus, we find an empty spot near an electrical outlet and watch as many episodes as we can until one of us has to go to class. Sure, it takes away some studying time, but I would also consider it quality bonding time-
We both dislike the same characters and laugh at the same things. Since we've been married, we don't hear too much of the single-life drama, and The Office has filled that void for us- yay for entertainment! Last week we also had our car die in the parking lot after having been on campus for 15 hours. After several attempts to jump start it, it remained in the parking lot for two days. We thought we were going to have to get a new starter, possibly a new battery, maybe some fuses had blown... nope. It was the alarm. All we had to do was flip a switch to reset the alarm and the car started right up...cars? After not having to pay for a visit to the mechanic, we decided to treat ourselves to a radio for our car! We have had this car for six months without a radio, it was time. We love listening to music while we drive and the stereo came with a sweet remote. All in all, things are pretty good :)
Ryan and I got a free month trial of Netflix, so we have started watching The Office from the beginning! I think we started watching it a week ago and we are now almost done with season three! When we have breaks on campus, we find an empty spot near an electrical outlet and watch as many episodes as we can until one of us has to go to class. Sure, it takes away some studying time, but I would also consider it quality bonding time-
We both dislike the same characters and laugh at the same things. Since we've been married, we don't hear too much of the single-life drama, and The Office has filled that void for us- yay for entertainment! Last week we also had our car die in the parking lot after having been on campus for 15 hours. After several attempts to jump start it, it remained in the parking lot for two days. We thought we were going to have to get a new starter, possibly a new battery, maybe some fuses had blown... nope. It was the alarm. All we had to do was flip a switch to reset the alarm and the car started right up...cars? After not having to pay for a visit to the mechanic, we decided to treat ourselves to a radio for our car! We have had this car for six months without a radio, it was time. We love listening to music while we drive and the stereo came with a sweet remote. All in all, things are pretty good :)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
School Moments
I hate when you are leaning down, about to take a drink from the water fountain and all of a sudden, the water pressure changes and the water shoots up, splashing you in the face. It is even worse when there are people waiting in line behind you to share your humiliation and are slightly annoyed that you are taking so long. On a separate note, but still related to humiliation, I will never run to class with a book bag on. Although one of my biggest pet peeves is being late, I will never run to class if I am late. These kids look so cool while they do it, and some people, like Ryan, can pull it off. But as for me, I feel like I personally look more like the goofy guy at the end. It feels so awkward to run while wearing a backpack, and everyone can see my awkwardness as I run, drawing more attention to myself. I have vowed to never run with a book bag on ever again.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Silent Streams and Spoken Dreams
Silent Streams and Spoken Dreams
By Ryan Adkins
It is the hope and work of J.R. Shute and Pat Rakes to bring about great changes in the American Southeast. These modern day Noah’s of Conservation Fisheries, Inc. (CFI) are “trying to keep some of the rarest species (of fish) alive.”1 This is no easy task in an area of the country that is rich with freshwater animals, “nearly half the 573 animals on the endangered list are freshwater species.”1 A few of the fish aboard the CFI Ark include the diamond darter, the Conasauga logperch, and the highly endangered Alabama Sturgeon. The fish are threatened by “sediments from human activities”1, chemicals, pollution, and the very fact that they are of “no economic importance.”1 It is for this reason that Shute and Rakes are relocating these endangered fish to a brick warehouse in Tennessee. This facility is filled with 600 aquariums and a “maze of pipes”1 that flood the tanks with water daily. This is a difficult task that they have undertaken but their goal is “to have seed stock ready to restore the fish to a river, if and when society restores that river to its clean, free-flowing state.”1 These two determined men will stop at nothing to see this dream become a reality.
What a remarkable story of dedication through conservation! Their methods used for conserving have undoubtedly saved thousands of fish and many entire species from extinction. However, by removing the fish from the polluted streams and rivers they are still only solving half of the problem. While temporarily safe in their new homes, the rushing rivers are still contaminated and will continue to be so until something is changed. I suggest taking a proactive approach to cleaning up the environment that the fish inhabit. This goes much further than protests, activism, and service projects. As Theresa Woody puts it “Complex environmental problems often require complex solutions; complex solutions call for an integrated approach, tying together science, resource management, and politics.”2 This is the solution that I call for in this situation, a blending together of lobbying to congress, legal litigation, and environmental education. The following articles show how this is done and how difficult and time consuming this can be.
Like the struggles that face CFI, Catostomids, more commonly known as Suckers, are facing similar problems due to “migration barriers, flow regulation, environmental contamination, habitat degradation, and exploitation.”3 In addition, these fish are thought to be of “little social or ecological value”3 therefore they too lack the funding and a lobbying group they need. Therefore, the authors of this article from Biological Conservation recommend increasing “outreach and education.”3 “Similarly, any legislation or policy that directly reduces alterations to critical habitats or water quality degradation would also directly benefit suckers.”3 A great example of this plan in action is the Sierra Club and their contributions in restoring the Kissimmee River in Florida.
Journal of the North American Benthological Society reports that “the Sierra Club is currently developing a long-term conservation agenda and funding strategy based on the ecoregion well known to ecologists.”2 Additionally, team work and a multi-faced approach has helped this the “largest grassroots environmental organization in the United States”2 achieve enormous success, largely being that of the “Save Our Everglades”2 program. This inspirational story gives hope to the thousands of environmentalists fighting the governmental red tape. It shows how difficult it is to obtain funding and support, but also the priceless rewards that can be attained through persistence and applied knowledge.
Noah’s Ark photo taken from Solarnavigator.net
Alabama Sturgeon photo taken from Outdooralabama.com
Everglades photo taken from Jazzhostels.com
1. Chadwick, D. (2010). Silent Streams Retrieved August 30, 2010, from National Geographic Web site: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/04/freshwater-species/chadwick-text
2. Woody, T. (1993). Grassroots in action: the Sierra Club’s Role in the campaign to restore the Kissimmee River Retrieved August 30, 2010, from http://links.jstor.org/sici?
3. Cooke, S., Bunt, C., Hamilton, S., Jennings, C., Pearson, M., Cooperman, M., and Markle, D. (2004). Threats, conservation strategies, and prognosis for suckers (Catostomidae) in North America: insights from regional case studies of a diverse family of non-game fishes. Retrieved August 30, 2010, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V5X-4CSG4FG-1&_user=456938&_coverDate=02%2F28%2F2005&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000021830&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=456938&md5=7dc00e46784bec8345a597353bb4f17e&searchtype=a
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