There's something about large bodies of water that really calm my soul. Until recently, I much preferred to look at water or be on the water rather than in it. This summer I've been challenging myself to be in it more. I had a friend of mine give me a few swimming lessons, and although I still can't make it all the way across a 50 meter pool doing the free stroke, I am improving, and I am starting to enjoy it.

Last night was my final scuba diving class before getting certified. This weekend are our open water dives out in Tooele. I think I could really enjoy this sport, if you can call it that. Once I figured out how to use all of the equiment, and practiced a few skills under water, I felt a lot more comfortable. Now, I'm kinda stoked to advance from an 8 foot pool to something with a sandy bottom...and fish. Apparantly, there's a couple of really nice sharks we'll be swimming with as well.

Another water sport I'm getting into is rowing, olympic style. I just got back from the Great Salt Lake tonight where I rowed with Nicole and some cancer survivors from the Huntsman Cancer Institute. It was a beautiful evening. The sunset turned the water pink, and the sail boats off in the distance created a picture perfect scene. Other than the masses of bugs that swarm around the dock, it was a flawless evening.

In addition to water sports, I've done quite a number of memorable activities this summer...some for the first time ever. If I ever want to look back on the summer of 2007, this is a list of highlights:

1. Enjoying camping for the first time ever, thanks to an air mattress.
2. First time in Moab
3. First trip to Lake Powell
4. Seattle with Marlo and Jerica
5. Learning to swim
6. Rowing
7. Certifying in scuba
8. Running the Wasatch Back relay
9. Running a 10K on Pioneer Day
10. Brandi Carlile concert in Boise with Dainon
11. Sun Valley with the ward
12. My first dog, D'ogee
13. Bike rides along the Jordan River trail
14. Involvment with African refugees
15. Healthy Potlucks on Sunday at Liberty Park
16. Lagoon with nieces and nephews


Pretty full summer, eh?