Summer Highlights

Beastocity: 37

First of all, a round of applause, please. Thank you, thank you. I have made it through my first non-summer!! Yes my first summer working full time, amazing. So, yes, it is still the beginning of August, but with tests, performances, and IV around the corner, it seems to me summer proper is winding down. Here are some of my highlights:

- Having the veil of business lifted so that I was able to actually start identifying my house as my home! Our house family did many cleaning and organizing days, purchased some new furniture, and added some homey touches like our welcome mats (yes, plural!). I also initiated some new potting! We replaced our nasty plant skeletons with live, flourishing plants! There’s Hagrid (a lavender plant), Ron & Hermione (two red/orange lantanas) and the still unborn poppies (which I will replace soon… I promise!).

- A vacation! Conveniently located smack dab in the summer was our family vacation to Austria! It was so amazing, incredibly beautiful, and deeply warming to be with my family in such a gorgeous place. Much bonding occurred during long car rides around the country and over tasty meals. While the places we visited were amazing (!!!!!!) on the top of my list was being able to spend time with my brother-in-law and see how much him and my sister are in love :)

- With Kyle in Hawai’i for most of the summer, I suddenly became very fond of my cell phone and enjoyed many long conversations with him. I really enjoyed our times talking about all sorts of things, whether fun, ordinary, difficult, or deep, and I think my housemates got a good laugh out of seeing me flopped on my bed on the phone with a smile on my face. (And it’s even better in person!)

- Good people + good places = good times. Many friends at the Santa Monica beach for my birthday. Caroline, Eric and others at LACMA for free jazz on Friday and a stroll through the museum. Visiting Sarah in Long Beach and loving her new town and apartment (and apartment’s pool!) Vanessa in town (twice!) staying at our place and having oodles and boodles of fun. Kendra moving in across the street and seeing her when I get home from work. Kristin over for dinners, lunches with Utibe, meeting new folks in the Streetlamp internship, having Joellen and Rhoelin live with us for the summer. And the list could go on…

Well done, summer of 2009!