Yay!!!! It is now more official that I am done with my thesis. The bound copies came in the mail today, in all their beautiful sparkly glory. So I had to commemorate the event and take pictures. Just in case you can't read the title, is says: Contributions of Family Leisure to Family Functioning Among Families with and Adolescent in Mental Health Treatment.

The thesis and the diploma.

So happy! Too bad I'm not standing next to the Cougar in Provo with the graduation gown and the hat and tassle thing and all my friends who are graduating with me. Commencement is in April, but I don't think I am going to make it back to walk in the ceremony. Too much money for the plane tickets and bad timing.

Valentine's Day....a little history!

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Jeff sent me flowers all the way from Spain. Well, they actually came from the flower shop in Bloomington, but you know what I mean. I've had a smile on my face since I picked up the box. I never thought I would be the type of girl who would get giddy and stuff about flowers. But I guess it turns out I'm a normal girl and kind of like it. How did this come to be a standard on Valentine's Day? So here's a little history on the whole sending people flowers thing.



The art of floriography (literally flower writing) came to Europe from Persia 300 years ago. There is a similar tradition in Japan called Hanakatoba. For the largely illiterate population, love letters were impractical and in those more modest times it was difficult for lovers or would be lovers to meet – flowers full of scent and beauty became a popular and practical way of sending messages back and forth. The tradition reached its height in Victorian England when every young man and lady were well versed in the language and could carry on conversations, even relationships through the exchange of blooms.

Red roses, as we think of them today, are the traditional symbol for love and romance. The modern red rose we are now familiar with was introduced to Europe from China in the 1800's. However, the meanings associated with them can be traced back many centuries, even to some of the earliest societies. The color red itself evolved from an early primal symbol for life into a metaphor for deep emotion. In Greek and Roman mythology the red rose was closely tied to the goddess of love. Many early cultures used red roses to decorate marriage ceremonies and they were often a part of traditional wedding attire. Through this practice, the red rose became known as a symbol for love and fidelity. As the tradition of exchanging roses and other flowers as gifts of affection came into prevalence, the red rose naturally became the flower of choice for sending the strongest message of love. This is a tradition that has endured to the present day.

Red roses continue to be the most popular way to say "I love you" to someone special. The rich heritage of the red rose has culminated in its modern day image as the lover's rose. They are the definitive symbol for romantic sentiments, representing true love, stronger than thorns. Red roses are a meaningful gift, perfect for expressing feelings for a loved one on Valentine's Day, an anniversary or simply "just because." For the budding relationship, a red rose bouquet can also signal the beginning of romantic intentions. They can send a message of commitment and an invitation to take the next step. Even the simplicity of a single red rose can elicit a powerful response. Whatever the occasion, red roses have an allure that is hard to resist!

Red roses symbolize true love and passion; pink shows happiness; yellow friendship and white purity. Red and white together in a bouquet speak of unity, pink and white together symbolize joy and contentment. Tea roses promise memories to come while cabbage roses act as ambassadors of love; musk roses are charming and the Christmas rose calms anxiety.

Interesting.

The rest of it.

Here's the other question that goes along with my last post on describing yourself.

Those characteristics that you used to describe yourself....are they related more to your leisure activities (non-obligated or free time) or your non-leisure activities (obligated time like school, work, care-giving, etc.)?

There is, of course, no right or wrong answer here. These are just interesting things to think about when examining our lives. Maybe the descriptors might wake us up a little bit in terms of how we live our lives. Maybe not.

Let's see....in other news related to Indiana. It has been approximately 60-65 degrees everyday for the last 5 days. It's been GREAT!!! Although, I know the loveliness of the warm weather won't stick around. Something about highs and lows, and pressure and blah blah blah. It's supposed to be cold again in the coming days. Not exactly ice storm, -5 degrees cold. But chilly.

I'm in the process of applying for some funding to do some research this summer. The grant proposals are due this friday. And I'm not really done with them. YIKES!! I see my first all-nighters as a doc student coming up. I'm trying to go to Spain to do a mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) study of the cultural application of the Core and Balance model. I know what you're probably thinking...Spain, Isn't that where Jeff is? Yes. Madrid to be exact. I want to visit. Plane tickets are expensive. So unless I develop a SEND JASMINE TO SPAIN website with a convenient PayPal account that accepts credit card donations (like the lady who just had octuplets....seriously??), getting funding to do research pretty much sends me there for free. And I'll just hire Jeff as my translator since I very obviously do not speak Spanish. :-) I'm also hoping to get money to do a small qualitative study at the NAC....after I get back from Spain, of course. I'm interested in understanding what the constraints, barriers, and stresses to family leisure are for families with someone with a disability....all from the Core and Balance perspective. So....keep me in your prayers in the coming weeks. I need to be productive this summer and these grants will allow me to do that. Plus, I really don't want to spend the summer in Bloomington and humidty. I've gotten very used to dry desert heat. How do people survive in the midwest??

How would you describe yourself?

In my Social Psychology of Leisure class this week, we are talking about leisure (of course) and how it influences our identities. One of the questions used in a study on identity formation was "How would you describe yourself to someone who doesn't know you?" For myself, I thought: athletic, adventurous, hard working, dedicated, fun, easy going. Now, there are quite a few other aspects to this study that ask about what kinds of leisure activities you do, how often, how important they are to you, etc...and then it ties it all together to tell you about the influence of your choice of leisure activities on the formation of your identity. Too much to talk about in this post. If you are REALLY interested, let me know, I'll send you the article. But I just wanted to throw it out there as some food for thought for all 3 people who read my blog. Enjoy.

Top and Bottom 10's

Well, it's been almost a month since I've been in the land of the Hoosiers. I have yet to get an answer from anyone on what a Hoosier is. No one seems to really know what it is or the origin of the word. So for now I'll just settle with Hoosiers being students at Indiana University.

In no particular order, here are my top 10 and bottom 10 lists for things here in B-town (that's what everyone here calls Bloomington, I promise). I hope that in time, the bottom 10 list will disappear and the top 10 list will get longer. After 4 weeks, I not so sure it will happen. I'll be totally honest here.....I struggled to come up with the Top 10. The bottoom 10 came without hesitation.

Top 10
1. Midwesterners are nice people.
2. A cute stray cat lives in the hall outside my apartment. I want to adopt it.
3. Big-Ten college towns = cheap furniture (can be questionable though, I'll be careful).
4. My stats class is easy. That might move to the bottom list next semester though. We'll see.
5. Proximity to cool places like Chicago. I haven't gone yet, but my list of places to visit is getting longer every day.
6. Dinner group has saved my life in terms of getting to know people (and saves me $$). Thanks guys!!
7. People here RECYCLE!!!!! YES!!!!
8. Student housing is Pet-friendly. :-)
9. Trees everywhere.....it's like living in a forest. There aren't any leaves on them now, but I'm sure it will be awesome in the Spring and AMAZING in the fall.
10. I hear the park near my apartment shows movies on those cool blow-up screens on summer nights....FOR FREE!! Free is good.
11. (I had to include this, even though it's a top 10 list). The local strip club near my apartment, Night Moves: A Gentleman's Lounge, always has catchy phrases on it's marquis. When I got here it was "Wanted: More Nice Girls". We got a new one today "We Have Our Own Stimulus Plan". Apparently people wait with anticipation to see what the new sayings are. You gotta love the small towns.

Bottom 10
1. Ice.
2. Wind.
3. One-way streets.
4. No Clean Air Act....people can smoke indoors here!?! I guess California and Utah have spoiled me.
5. The lack of snow-plows.
6. Parking at IU is not free.
7. Lack of family and friends. I really miss everyone.
8. Football in Indiana? Ha, yeah right!
9. Slower pace of things at school. I shouldn't complain but I'm used to being super busy.
10. No office space at school. I'm less productive at home as it's always easy to find other things to do that are more interesting....like taking a nap.

So there they are. I keep telling myself that I will like it better here when the weather gets better. I'm sure I will. This winter has been yucky. And I think I will like it better when I move this summer. No more neighbors standing outside my door and smoking. In fact, my roommate and I checked out an apartment complex today that quickly moved to the top of our list. It's still under construction so it will be brand spankin new when we move in in August.....hopefully. The other great thing about it is that our upstairs neighbors are in our branch. It will be good to have friends so close.

So overall, the jury is still out on my first month in Bloomington. But it gets better every day. The sun was out and shining on Sunday. It was about 47 degrees....I wore shorts while I did laundry. It gave me some hope for a great future. :-)