That Which Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Saturday morning, the Burgeners were feeling adventurous. And aslo spontaneous. Oh yeah. Kylie took the liberty of finding a simple, joyful out-of-doors experience online. Afterall, how hard could a 3-mile hike really be? It sounded like the perfect adventure for us cooped-up, commuting, lazy types who just need some fresh air on a perfect Indian-Summer morning. So, we packed a lunch and headed out into the great, wide world.

Apparently, if you haven't been on a hike in several years, and you didn't realize it was 3 miles in AND 3 miles out, and the total elevation gain is over a half mile in those 3 miles, a hike like this can be VERY difficult. We should know, we survived!

Although our legs are aching and we feel as though we are possibly the most out-of-shape couple on the planet right now (seriously, at least 7 60+ men passed us on the way up), we had a marvelous time. The leaves were just starting to turn fantastic shades of gold and orange.

And the view from the top was gorgeous, as well. We felt a great sense of accomplishment at not having quit, at making it all the way.

Additionally, we had five hours all to ourselves, with no TV, email, or homework. We talked and laughed and felt rejuvinated in spirit, if nothing else, by the time we reached the bottom.

So although we have fondly nicknamed it "The Hike of Death," we had a very enjoyable Saturday (although not so much joy on Sunday and Monday, since we're bruised and battered and SORE). Someday, it can be expected that we'll repeat it.

Super Saturday

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am NOT crafty. However, last weekend, my sister was kind enough to take me in while Landon was off on another school trip. It was her Super Saturday, so it was a double bonus, as I got to try my hand, for the first time, at making crafts! I was actually rather pleased with how they turned out. Yay me! Thanks Abby, for letting me stay and for helping me discover the world of modge-podge.

Kylie's nunchucking skills

Since beginning a job in the advertising field, Kylie has been disappointed that, despite all the glamor in the movies and such, working in advertising is a lot like working in sales (and, after following apostles around for a living, who wouldn't be a little let down?). Last Friday, in a pinch, one of the designers at ThomasArts asked for a little inspiration, and Kylie got the chance to have some fun! The following ads were in no way worked on by Kylie, but the graphics/photos and concept inspiration were all her, baby! It was a fun little diversion from the usual grind of bringing in the bacon for the company. This is what advertising should be. Designers have all the luck.
Thanks to Deril for showing her the ropes, and for his never tiring patience with her Photoshop queries on a daily basis.

Political Corner - the Economy

Today’s topic – money


Love it, hate it, we've all gotta have it. By popular demand, here is my ode to the economic troubles of the time.
Let’s be honest, this is THE issue of the 2008 presidential race. Last weekend the stock market crashed beyond belief when Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers failed, and AIG would have been right behind them without a little help from Uncle Sam. Beyond the stock market, paying $4/gallon for gas, along with rapidly rising rent and grocery costs have hit us on a personal level. Whether you believe the struggling US economy was caused by the greed of the capitalist market or botched policies of the Bush Administration, you’ve got to be curious how the candidates propose to handle the situation. Below is what I hope is a fair, although far from comprehensive, analysis (for a more detailed analysis of specific tax policies, please click here):

	McCain	Obama
Fuel/Energy	Mandate greenhouse gas reduction, In favor of suspending the national gas tax. Would open coastal areas for drilling, and lift the ethanol tariff. Does not support federal funding of energy research.	Tax oil companies and use $ to help low income families, also tax green house gas emission and use that $ to commit $150 billion to research. Wants to double fuel economy standards within 18 years to 50 mpg by 2026. Wants to make all new buildings carbon neutral by 2030. Lift cap on tax credit for more efficient cars, and increase funding for public transport. Opposes drilling.
Financial Sector	Recently suggests that some regulation is necessary, however, has no record of supporting government action.	Calls for the same government regulations on investment firms that are required of commercial banks.
Housing Market	Would offer government backing for refinancing a home, given that the lender writes down the loan to 90% of the home’s current retail value. The lender and federal government would then receive 30% of the equity (each) when the home sells.	Would require government backing on home loans, meaning that borrowers share equity with the Federal Housing Administration when they sell or refinance their home.
Economic Advisors	·John Thain, chief executive of Merrill Lynch ·Phil Gramm, senator ·Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve	·Robert E. Rubin, former treasury secretary; now a senior adviser at Citigroup ·Paul A. Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve ·Lawrence H. Summers, former treasury secretary

I have to confess that I don’t understand the housing policies all that well. I would suggest reading the CCN articles listed under sources if you want to know more about that subject. Since neither candidate has extensive business or economic policy experience, perhaps the most important row on the chart above is the last – economic advisors. These are the men who are mostly making the policy suggestions now, and who are prime candidates for cabinet positions. It seems to me that John McCain’s economic policies are not especially helpful, and Barack Obama’s are not especially realistic. But, you decide.

In Their Own Words:

“This crisis serves as a stark reminder of the failures of crony capitalism and an economic philosophy that sees any regulation at all as unwise and unnecessary. It's a philosophy that lets Washington lobbyists shred consumer protections and distort our economy so it works for the special interests instead of working people; a philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to the rest.”

Barack Obama

"The government was forced to commit $85 billion. These actions stem from failed regulation, reckless management and a casino culture on Wall Street that has crippled one of the most important companies in America."

John McCain

Sources:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-campaign18-2008sep18,0,1817927.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/us/politics/16record.html

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/09/news/economy/candidates_energy/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/10/news/economy/mccain_econ_plan/index.htm?postversion=2008041017

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gGg4DC

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/27/grim_proving_ground_for_obamas_housing_policy/

Happy Birthday, Josh!

My big brother Josh was born on September 11. Yep, that's right. The day of havoc and chaos...there is a slight possibility that he requested to be born that day. :) The infamous 9/11 was his 18th birthday, and so coincidentally the day that he had to sign up for the selective service. I always remember that about that day.

I have always looked up to my brother. He's been my hero since I was old enough to walk, and probably before then. He was also my best friend the entire time we were growing up. I think that part of that comes from moving a lot when we were younger (I had gone to 5 different schools by the time I was in 5th grade). And part of it comes just from being so close in age. All I know is that I always wanted to be just like him.

I think he was part of the reason I always seemed to have closer guy friends than girl friends in high school. He was also the reason I had a ninja turtles birthday party when I was 5, tried skiing, loved the movie Heavyweights, played the violin, joined the debate, tennis and soccer teams, listened to Drop Kick Murphys (and all that came of that), dated my first real boyfriend, took the ACT 4 times, went to Girl's State (although they almost didn't let me in when they found out I was the sister of the Josh Jackson), ran for student council (although we both lost - and so did my sister) and the reason that I love Star Wars better than Lord of the Rings to this day (which is a bit of a sore point between Landon and myself, if you want to know the truth). He's also the reason that I expect so much of myself and always try to be smart and fun and have a lot of friends.

In short, my brother made me who I am today.

The past few years, we've had some bumps and forks along our life roads. I got married, graduated, and started working full-time in Utah, and he attended 5 different universities in 3 years. We haven't seen each other much, talked much, or been very close. Pathetically, I started crying in Wal*Mart when we were trying to find him a birthday present.

I used to always know just what he'd want...but recently, it seems like I don't have a clue who he is. Luckily, he's finally landed in our backyard, and we're so happy to have him here!

So Happy Birthday, Josh! We love you and hope we can hang out again soon!

Adventures in Babysitting

Last week, we got to watch Stella again! We really do like getting our fill of that little girl. It's fun to watch Landon with her; she just adores him and I know he is going to be such a great dad someday! Every time I walk into a room alone, Stella asks "where's Kylielandon?" Just like that, all one word. She has a hard time separating us, but mostly she just likes him better. That's ok, I'm the first to admit he is much more entertaining. Here are just a few fun pictures that I thought everyone should be able to enjoy! (It was really dark, so I'm sorry that the pictures are not the best)

Political Corner - Education

Today’s topic – education

Now that we are down to the wire, people seem to be taking more interest in my political posts! And let’s be honest, I really love this stuff.

I have had a request for a post on Education policies. I had a lot of fun with this one, since Education is something I am passionate but not exceptionally informed about. Below is a slice of what I learned over the last couple of days. There’s actually a lot here. As usual, I hope that it is unbiased, especially since I still don’t know who I’m voting for! If anyone else has requests, please let me know and I will do my best to help create a few more informed voters!

	McCain	Obama
Funding	Maintain current budget, redistributing $ to excelling schools and teachers.	Add $14 billion/year to the system, using the money that is currently being spent in Iraq, and also cutting NASA funding.
Vouchers	Supports when approved by local governments.	Against; however, supports putting $400 million into charter schools.
No Child Left Behind	Voted in favor. Would keep and “make more improvements.” Vague on the how.	Was not yet in office when the vote took place. Would keep and “fix.” Again, very vague on the how.
Teacher salaries	Defy unions to make teaching a performance-based field, tied to student performance.	Work with unions to make teaching a performance-based field, tied to student performance but with terms negotiated by teachers.
Standardized testing	For, and wants to require every child, including special needs children, to take the same tests.	For, but wants to create different tests than the current standard.
Other proposals	· Expand tutoring services. · Expand virtual learning with $500 million to build new virtual schools and develop online courses.	· Expand pre-kindergarten programs. · Tax credit paying up to $4,000 of college costs for students who perform 100 hours of community service a year.

It seems that we follow party lines on this one. McCain supports vouchers, Obama doesn’t (although I’m not sure that charter schools aren’t basically the same thing). Obama’s basic sentiment seems to be to put more money into the system, while McCain favors parent choice and more accountability with the funds already in place. However, Obama also favors parent choice, so don’t be deceived only by the voucher issue. Both candidates want to keep the No Child Left Behind act, which was a surprise to me. After a lot of research on the topic, I came to the conclusion that neither candidate particularly cares about education. It's not much of a hot-button issue in this campaign, paling in comparison to the deteriorating economy and an unpopular war.

In Their Own Words:

"Don't tell us that the only way to teach a child is to spend most of the year preparing him to fill in a few bubbles on a standardized test. Let's finally help our teachers and principals develop a curriculum and assessments that teach our kids to become more than just good test-takers."

Barack Obama

“I don’t see why a good teacher should be paid less money than a bad senator. It’s important that we have merit pay for teachers, that we have teacher testing, that we do everything we can to motivate young men and women to enter this profession. There’s a whole generation that’s retiring. It is unconscionable that the average salary of a lawyer is $79,000 a year and the average salary of a teacher is $39,000 a year”

John McCain

Sources:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/election08/articles/2008/06/20/20080620educationgrid0623.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080910/ap_on_el_pr/next_president_education

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/politics/ny-usissues0908,0,3329927.story

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2001-192

http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/John_McCain_Education.htm

Field Camp - Finally

So, we're a little behind with this, but after much ado, here are pictures from the second week of Landon's field camp. He had a ton of fun, but Kylie hopes he never leaves for that long again!

15 months later...

Our wedding picture is finally finished! We know, we know, we've been married quite awhile to be just getting our photos back. We actually have all the photos on CD, but we've been waiting and waiting to get our big photo to put up on the wall. There's been all kinds of fun along the way; first with us moving, and then our photographer moving to Utah. But this morning we got the proof from our photographer, and in a few weeks, we're hoping to have the real thing! Kylie's mom was nice enough to give us a "frame" for Kylie's birthday. We haven't picked it out yet, but now that the photo's done, we'll finally be able to take advantage of that. We can't wait to see it on the wall and finally feel like our little home is complete. Here is the photo, for your viewing pleasure. Thanks, Jacksons, for paying for our wedding, especially Kylie's beautiful dress, and helping us get the photo of our dreams! And thanks, Burgeners, for the pretty flowers Kylie is holding, and thanks everyone, for the love and support you've all shown us the past 15 months as we figure out married life (maybe someday, right?). We love you all!

So Long Sweet Summer.

We were not ready for summer to end. Fall crept up on us without our permission. We didn't accomplish even close to everything we wanted to do this summer! We were supposed to go on a long camp out, take at least one more hiking trip to a scenic spot, spend more lazy afternoons at the park, play tennis, read more, take more naps. In short, we aren't ready to grow up.

This was our first "non-summer..." that is to say, the first summer we haven't had a break. Kylie worked straight through it, taking only 2 days of vacation since April, and Landon was a trooper and took classes both spring and summer terms. Additionally, his field camp took up the only hope he had for a break - the two weeks between summer and fall semester. He's a great worker and is trying to get through school as quickly as possible before Kylie has a nervous breakdown from agency life. He is much appreciated.

Anyhow, we refused to let summer be over just yet. So this weekend we accomplished at least one of our summer goals. We had a wild ride (or several) at Lagoon amusement park with "the cousins," Chelsea and Kyle. Chelsea is actually Kylie's cousin. Kyle is Chelsea's friend whom we have adopted. We love hanging out with both of them; they've quickly become our favorite (and basically only) friends here in West J. Ironically, and as a side note, Lagoon is in Farmington, where Kylie works. It might be the only other thing in Farmington, aside from her office. She was dubious about making the long drive there and back on a Saturday, the one day she DOESN'T have to go to Farminton, but it turned out to be worth it. Here are a few photos from the farewell to summer event:

The "Wicked" rollercoaster was our favorite ride. It's new, which we understand is a relative term since neither of us has been to Lagoon since our senior year of high school.

Apparently, there are all these museums and displays in Pioneer Village, which we'd never seen before, but we enjoyed thouroughly while we dried off from riding Rattlesnake Rapids twice in a row.

Chel and Kyle enjoying the Sky Ride.

This is a real jail. They used to throw drunkards in there in the good ole' days.

"You could be swining on a star..." (Jenna is probably the only one who will get this caption. Oh well.)

Thanks for the cute pictures, Kyle and Chel! And thanks for coming with us for one last summer adventure! And we'd love a rematch of Settlers of Catan with some Navajo (or Apache) taco goodness.

Political Corner - Health Care

Today’s topic – health care
Although Landon and I are very blessed to have good insurance benefits from my work, I know many people (my sister and some close friends included) who do not have this security. In past years, I have been oblivious to the ins and outs of the health care world. This year, however, with my work inside the marketing of UnitedHealthcare, along with some long conversations with my sister, I am very interested in the candidates’ views on health care. As always, below is what I hope is a fair assessment:

	McCain	Obama
Who should be covered?	Everyone; no mandates	Everyone; mandated for children
Who should pay for it?	The private sector	American citizens, subsidized by government programs
The plan	Assess a tax on insurance benefits. Everyone then receives a stipend ($2,500 for individuals, $5,000 for families) to cover the cost of either the taxes or to purchase private insurance.	Create a new, affordable federally sponsored plan (similar to Medicare), subsidized by taxes. Employers who elect to offer coverage as a benefit are also eligible for government help.
Other proposals	· Ease restrictions on drug imports to make them more affordable. · Higher Medicare premiums for wealthy seniors.	· Strengthen Medicaid and Medicare. · Increase funding for genetic testing, while protecting privacy.

The candidates appear to violently disagree on how the nation should go about solving our insurance problems. The one thing everyone can agree on is that the problems exist. McCain’s plan would more than likely discourage offering health insurance as an employment benefit. Obama’s plan would increase taxes to pay for millions to have government-subsidized insurance.

In their own words:
“Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves.”
Barack Obama

“All Americans deserve the opportunity to obtain health care coverage of their choice. I hope that we will never see the day in which the government tells us which health care plan we may enroll in or who will provide the care. To socialize our health care system…will be to ruin it.”
John McCain

Sources:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93445861
http://www.health08.org/candidates/mccain.cfm
http://pewforum.org/religion08/compare.php?Issue=Health_Care
http://obama.senate.gov/issues/health_care/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/wire/chi-ap-cvn-obama-text,0,4801705.story?page=3