Bucket List

• Be outside in the rain until I'm soaking wet
• Eat a banana split
• Get acrylic nails
• Go camping with a group of friends
• Go sledding
• Go to Africa
• Go to all of the national parks in Utah
• Go to concerts
• Go to England
• Go to France (see le tour eiffel, etc.)
• Go to Germany (Especially Bavaria {the spot in a picture we have in the family room})
• Go to the Great Salt Lake
• Go to Greece
• Go to Ireland
• Go to Italy (especially Rome)
• Go to Jerusalem
• Go to the Middle East
• Go to Scotland
• Have a Harry Potter movie marathon
• Have a Pirates of the Caribbean movie marathon
• Have a Seal Point Siamese cat
• Ride on a train
• See a Broadway production (or several)
• See the Great Wall of China
• See the Statue of Liberty
• Sleep outside under the stars
• Stay at a Benedictine Monastery
• Visit every state in the US
• Watch the sun rise
• Watch the sun set

Summer Happenin's

One of my goals was to start writing on this at least twice a month. Obviously that has failed. I am gathering that this will never be a high enough priority for that to actually happen, so my apologies for those of you that actually read this silly thing. This will probably be short since I need to take my mom and sister to the dentist soon, but I figured I should write something.

Anyway, it feels like the summer is already over even though it has kind of only just begun for me since I finished my last summer class less than a week ago. As usual, the past couple of months have flown by because I've been so busy. My summer classes definitely shattered any hope I had of maintaining last year's 4.0, but I did the best that I could, so I can't complain. Work has been the usual crazy busy that comes with summer. I've managed to only work about half time through most of the summer, which is amazing and means that I've actually managed to get some other things done. I'm the webmaster for the department now, which means that I get to put up all the information on our pages and keep it up to date. Once I get everything up, it should not be too difficult, but it is definitely a lot of work right now. We are also making changes to the way that we run community service work, so I am going to end up with a lot more paperwork and required time, but I think it will make a very beneficial difference.

I have mostly taken this summer to work on things that I wanted to accomplish and while there are certainly things that I have not gotten to, I would say that I have been pretty successful and I am happy with how this summer has passed. I read over fifteen of the books on my to read list (although several of them were rereads o.O). I still have a relatively high stack in my room (not even counting the mental or physical lists), but I'm hoping to keep up the reading for pleasure during the semester. I also watched over fifty movies, which seems like a lot put that way, but I still have so many on my list to see. Those will probably have to wait until fall break and winter break. I also cleaned my room pretty thoroughly, which means that I actually cleaned through my old school stuff and boxed some of it up to store in the garage. I kept my chemistry book and my calculus book...and knowing me, I will go through them at some point when I have time. Nerd.

I have also gotten ridiculously independent, which may be a bad thing since I was independent enough already. It is nice to just go gallivanting off to wherever I want or need to go without worrying about trying to bring others into it though. I think it has good for me too. I have been working on a lot of more personal stuff this summer and I would say that this has been a very good thing. I have gotten a lot better about not being as ridiculously sensitive and I have gained some confidence and comfort with who I am. I do not need to worry about what other people think about me (how quiet I am in groups, for example) because that is how I am and it is up to them to accept it. I have also gotten better about saying how I feel. I have kind of ended up far too likely to be quiet about things and say I am fine or that it is alright just to avoid confrontation after the example of my parents fighting over stupid things to a ridiculous extent. I am learning to not just say that it is okay when it is not and to not be afraid to talk through things. Even if it means that you lose people from your life who are used to you putting up with everything and still being there for them all of the time. Relationships take effort from both sides. You can love someone as much as you want, but you have to okay with the fact that your friendship may not ever be as deep as you would like it to be.

On another note (because I am seriously running out of time), I am at the point where I am super excited for fall semester to start! I know what show I am working on and I should be able to go to the Mount retreat this year!!! I have the show, an online class, and two that meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which means I will be able to keep up my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday work schedule. :) I really have to go, but I'll write more later...SOON later lol.