San Diego!

Over President's Day weekend, Scott and I went to California! San Diego to be exact... We both had President's Day off from work, so what better to do than go out of town on a three day weekend!

It was a blast! And especially nice to get out of the desert. We did have a few issues with our hotel when we got there. We had three different rooms before we actually had keys to the room we actually stayed in. A little irritating. (Sometimes when you book online, the descriptions are a lie! Which is a little silly really..)

So whenever Scott and I are going to go anywhere and leave in the morning, we have a really bad habit of leaving 2 hours later than we wanted. This was definitely the case. We wanted to get up really early, leave around 630-7, which means we would get to the beach around lunch time...we left 2 hours later... (it's a terrible habit that we are trying to break!) So after we got to Cali, the first stop was the beach! Parking at Mission beach is a pain in the butt in the afternoon. We also walked along the boardwalk. And the weather was perfect.

The next day we went whale watching! That was SO much fun! We saw eleven whales! At one point, it looked like there was a little group of 4 or 5. Scott also was able to get some pretty good pictures of some tail fins! So with whale watching, there are a few tricks. Once you spot the spray, you will most likely see it again in another minute or two. If you see the tail fin, it means the whale is going for a deeper dive and won't come back up for about 5 minutes, maybe a little longer. It was definitely fun spotting them and trying to guess where they were going to pop back up again. I would do it again, and there are deals usually on Groupon!

We also were able to go to the USS Midway museum. Now that is cool! The ship is huge! I would definitely suggest going to see that. This older couple that was in front of us in line let us use their discount pass with them so we got it half off. I think she had a museum booklet pass thing that may allow you to have discounted tickets on a bunch of museums. I definitely have to look into that the next time we go.

We decided to go over to La Jolla Cove, but for some reason when we went, we were permanently in a cloud. It was so foggy you could hardly see anything! It was still pretty, but the cliff looking down to the beach was a little pathetic. You could barely see the waves break at the shore and then farther out was just fog. I would like to drive through there again sometime when it's less foggy. It's supposed to have beautiful sunsets! Next time... Oh, and the parking there is terrible.

The Mormon Battalion Museum was also really neat! I didn't even know it was in Cali until one of my friends mentioned it. It's has a lot of great history and the way they present it is interactive, great for little munchkins! I also didn't know that the Mormon Battalion passed through Tucson! (Where I'm from.) They also where a big instrument in the development of San Diego in the beginning. Pretty cool!

We also went to Balboa Park, which is something that we have to go back to. There are so many museums but you can't go to all of them because it would be so expensive! The zoo is also really close to the park, but we didn't make it there this trip.

Side note, when we were ALMOST to Balboa park, we got rear ended! What's up with that?! Don't worry, no body got hurt. It wasn't the worst news though. We were able to fix another little mark up on the car from a previous incident for a little cheaper! (The bumper was a lot of the cost to fix the initial issue, but then that was covered with insurance, so it made the rest not so bad.) 

All in all, it was a nice little break from Arizona, but never long enough! Maybe one of our next trips will get to be a cruise! (fingers crossed!)

See below for a few photos! :)

Technology: A Help or A Hindrance?

So in my class these last few weeks, we've been working on a persuasive essay. I hate essays and writing papers. They are the worst! But I'd like to share this one that I wrote and then a little more insights that I have as well. It's not the greatest, because I hate writing for school. (I'm so ready for next semester...math!)

Modern technology is simply an advancement of old technology and it advanced so rapidly that society scarcely noticed the significant impact that it has created. It began with the advent of the radio in the early 1900s, and then with the television (TV) in the 1950s. In 1969, the United States NASA program launched a rocket to the moon, landed astronauts on the moon, and returned them safely back to Earth using less computational power than what is found in today’s smart phone. That is remarkable but society now relies heavily on communication, information, and transportation technology to make life faster and more efficient. With this increase of modern technology, has society become too dependent? Is the development of the younger generation being hindered by this increased exposure to modern technology? 

With all things, there are advantages as well as disadvantages and there are many benefits to the increase of modern technology. Some of these benefits include easy access to information, improved communication, improved entertainment, and social networking. There are, however, disadvantages that include a decreasing amount of direct interpersonal communication as a result of increased use of social media and text messaging, and young children relying heavily on technology for the majority of their play, causing possible development delays.  

The conversation of technology and its impact on society’s development is not new; however, with the invention of the Internet and compact portable devices (e.g. cellular smart phones and tablets), technology’s influence is now everywhere. Many studies have been performed to determine whether technology is simply a distraction to children, or if technology is actually impeding a child’s development. One impediment is the evolution of interactive and realistic technology-based experiences, such as Role-Playing Games (RPG) and interactive social media sites. According to a research study performed by Judith Van Evra, a psychologist in Mental Health Care, “technology advances have led to slick and evocative productions in which reality and fantasy are mingled and often indistinguishable.“ A Ph.D graduate from Stanford University conducted a survey of 30,000 gamers that discovered from those surveyed, “nearly 40% of men and 53% of women who play online games said their virtual friends were equal to or better than their real-life friends.” More and more information seems to be pointing out that technology is more than just a distraction to young children. Another study that shows that 12% of boy and 8% of girl video game players exhibit pathological patterns of play, and fit the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) category of addiction. This study also shows that pathological gamers are twice as likely to have ADD or ADHD (Gentile D 2009). As you can see, young people are affected greatly and continue to be increasingly infused with all types of media and technology.  

It seems that a decade ago, children were more interested in playing outside, riding bicycles, playing sports, building forts and scraping their knees. Children back then didn’t require costly equipment or even parental supervision. Family dinners were full of conversations about what went on during the day, now home cooked meals around the dinner table are far less frequent. On top of that, instead of being engaged in conversations with one other, people of all ages are more enthralled with what’s happening on their technological devices. This can be witnessed just about anywhere. It is also evident that children are relying more on technology for their play and entertainment. Children ranging from 0-2 spend 2.5 hours per day occupied by technology, children ages 3-5 spend 4.5 hours per day, and elementary aged children use roughly 7.5 hours of entertainment technology (i.e. TV, video games, cell phones, internet, etc.) per day. Out of these elementary aged children, 75% have devices in their bedrooms (Kaiser Foundation Report 2010). These finding are also causally linked to developmental delays in children (Christakis D). The impact of rapidly advancing technology on the developing child has seen an increase of physical, psychological and behavior disorders that the health and education systems are just beginning to detect, much less understand. Child obesity and diabetes are now national epidemics in both Canada and the U.S., causally related to technology overuse. Diagnoses of ADHD, autism, coordination disorder, developmental delays, unintelligible speech, learning difficulties, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders are associated with technology overuse, and are increasing at an alarming rate. 

Society will continue to gravitate towards a more technological state. It makes things easier, faster and more efficient. Society needs to be more conscious of how technology is affecting the younger generation. More tests and studies also need to be conducted to determine exactly how children are being affected, both positively and negatively. Technology shouldn’t be used as a means to distract kids from other activities in order to give their caregiver a break. Children should be encouraged to actually go outside and play, ride bikes, and develop their creativity and imagination. There is more to life than what is found on a TV, smartphone or tablet. Let’s not allow our children to get trapped in the world of modern technology and ever glowing screens.

It's always interesting to see other families when Scott and I go out for dinner. Just the other day we went to California Pizza Kitchen and as we were leaving, we passed by this family. There were two boys, probably in elementary school, playing on their tablets and all the older kids or adults were focused on their phones. What an interesting family dynamic we have been slowly warped ourselves into. Our use of technology should have more thought put into it, especially when it is affecting our young children. Conversations should be made face-to-face and with eye contact, not the half listening, nodding while scrolling your Facebook or Instagram feeds. I personally don't want my future children spending immense amount of time staring at a screen. There are so many better things to do; going to the park, sports, swimming, hiking, bike riding, imagination, painting, coloring, reading. Or would you rather your kids doing this; Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, Wii, Candy Crush, Mind Craft, World of Warcraft, Snapchat, YouTube, texting instead of calling, etc. Which do you think will help your child the most in their quest of development? Are you helping them to achieve greatness? Or are you holding them back without even realizing it? (A really good read here)

Steve Jobs, the master behind iPhones and iPads, did you know that he didn't even allow his own children to use iPads? (read the little article here) He said, "My kids accuse me and my wife of being fascists and overly concerned about tech, and they say that none of their friends have the same rules… That’s because we have seen the dangers of technology firsthand. I’ve seen it in myself, I don’t want to see that happen to my kids." Our society is addicted to technology and social media. Can you go a day, let along a week, without using social media and these mind numbing games? Let's try and strengthen the relationships around us by having real interactions! Going out to lunch, inviting another couple over to dinner, sit down and have a real conversation. Let's get to know each other on a more personal level.

True Bias - Hudson Pants

The Hudson Pants have got to be one of my favorite patterns! I've made two pairs but one I wear all the time and the other not so much. Mostly because it's made out of a more spandex material and it's still a little chilly outside for that. But anyway, you can buy the pattern here! (It's a downloadable PDF pattern) It was created by True Bias. I got my fabric from Girl Charlee. I have some purple sweatshirt fabric that I want to make another pair from...but I really want to get some fabric paint and stamp it up first! That way it's not so plain and purple. But I'm pretty pumped about that.

It took me a second to figure out certain parts of the pattern, but that could be because I like to just look at the pictures and ignore all the words that correspond... :) I also chose to opt out of the string tie. Two reasons: first, my button hole function is finicky and I really need to take my machine to get fixed before the warranty is out, which is at the end of this month (yikes!). Second, I wanted to do a yoga waist band style, but the fabric I used wasn't going to work, as hard as I tried to make it work... Too much stretch and not enough give? So I threw in some elastic and I think it's perfect. :) Probably a little thicker elastic next time though.

I call these my Christmas Pants, though I wear them a lot more then just at Christmas time. They are really comfy. Depending on the material you use when you make your own, they can be classy or relaxy! (I chose to be a little more relaxy) Oh and did I mention they have pockets?! And yup, I'm supporting TOMS. <3

Photo props to the lovely Lydia at Photography Hill

Cheers!