Swimming

I haven't posted about one of my meets for a long time, in fact not even this season. So the season is actually coming to a close, as I have three weeks left of swimming. I have one more meet, I think. Anyway, I want to say that it has been a great season overall and I set plenty of new times. I want to thank my parents for allowing me to swim, especially Mom for driving me to my meets. And Papa Baker, because he took me to one. I want to thank everybody in general for cheering me on and constantly asking how swimming is going. I plan to swim for many more years, and possibly go to the Olympics. Now I know that every sport-player or competition racer says this. A lot don't make it. But I'm serious. I'm not just saying it because the Olympics would be cool. I'm saying it because this is something I am passionate about and I need to go to the Olympics. I will stop at nothing to get there. Anyway, here's just some answers to questions I usually get asked:

My best (but possibly not my favorite) stroke is butterfly. I think.

My best 50 freestyle time is about 31 seconds. 

I can and always do flip turns so long as it's possible. 

My goggles do not fall off a lot. They used to. For some reason they don't get foggy and I don't know how to prevent that. Sorry. 

I can swim across a 25-yard pool without a breath. 

Diving is easy for me. 

So those are just some questions people ask me. Over the three years I have been a swimmer, it has become second nature to me. I can easily maneuver underwater without fins (flippers) or a snorkel. My eyes are less sensitive to chlorine now so they don't sting much when the water touches them without goggles on. 

I hope this blog was informative and fun to read! Sorry I haven't blogged much recently and I hope that's ok. 

Rubiks Cube

Well, in my 2014 summary I mentioned that I was into Rubik's cubes. So I would like to blog about that. Oh and in 2014 swimming was AWESOME!!! I set plenty of new times and had a ton of fun, especially because now I'm in a much higher training group than before. Anyway, I have an interest in cubes now and I expect to keep it. I own and know how to solve the following puzzles: 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, and the 3x3 Void. Now the Void may confuse you. It is the same as a 3x3, except that it has no centers. The centers on a cube mark the color of that side and cannot change positions. The Void, with no centers, is harder because you don't know what side to build your colors on, and results in a very hard solve. With the 4x4 and 5x5, you have to build the centers out of center pieces, and then build your edges, while on the 3x3, that's already done for you. If you would like to see me solve these puzzles, I have videos on my YouTube channel (CubeTuber) where you can watch me solve them in time-lapse or real time. I encourage you to subscribe to that channel.

Anyway, teaching myself how to solve these cubes and finding out speed tricks for them has taken a lot of time, but it pays off and they are really fun to solve.

2014 Summary

So. 2014. I have started to blog less but at least I keep it going. Anyway 2014 started out great as far as I can remember. (Hey I am trying to remember what happened over 365 days ago.) Ryan had his snow-shoveling business rolling and made plenty of money. I don't remember if we went to fish lake or not when the snow was still out. We have simply been there so many times I can't remember. Anyway the next thing I remember was June. We had two birthdays to celebrate, Ryan and Riley, and so it ended up being a busy month even though it was summer break. I do remember counting the weeks until school. Next was July. We had been to fish lake by now and were up there again. The Seals and Grandma and Papa Baker all went to Europe. They'd been there once but I think that was for vacation and this trip was church-related maybe. Anyway they were there for a month and well I wanted to go to Mexico so I could finally get out of the U.S. for once. August was awesome cause we went to Family Camp at UPBC. Oh I meant to say that we went to camp during July and had a lot of fun! Anyway right before Family Camp I got into magic tricks and continued it through October. I kinda slowed down on it but I still know some of my tricks and still think it's fun, but I'm just not too big on it anymore. Anyway November was cool. We went to Livonia for Thanksgiving and had a good time. December turned out great, and Christmas was awesome. Now I'm into Rubiks Cubes and do snow-shoveling with Ryan. I make plenty of money and all is going well.