summer is over!!

ah, but what a wonderful time it's been...

it was my first official full-time summer. that sounds weird, but this was the 1st summer w/o some major M trip or extended stay out-of-town or full-time volunteering or... anything. oddly, it's taken me 8 years to figure out how to fully "relax" w/o guilt or fear of restlessness, etc.

that does not mean i wasn't busy busy... it's really amazing how much time gets taken up by fun and friends! here's a snapshot of my adventures:

a friday trip to Malibu w/ fellow teachers, grad students, and unemployeds... a *beautiful day of climbing small rocks, easy hiking, amazing fried seafood, and running away from the freezing cold ocean waves!

a quick drive down to San Diego to witness Z's proposal. well, technically, we weren't there for the actual asking since he did it aboard a hot-air balloon, but we got to celebrate minutes afterwards. this picture was taken beforehand in the convertible he had rented (they flew out from FL for this!)... the man has style!

we celebrated the following wked, july 4th, in the Memphis! it ended up being a partial reunion of the family, as we were joined by family from PA & VA as well. what i learned: southern folk are SUPER warm and hospitable, and they don't seem to think it's dangerous to hand firecrackers to young children... =)

the wked after that (yes, we did a lot of traveling!), we drove up to the Bay Area for d's bday! we got to see a Bowling for Soup concert, had a great day at AT&T Park, and ate amazing food!

a joint community group social at a CEMETARY.

it's weird and eerie, but Hollywood Forever cemetary (final resting place for many of the greatest stars) shows outdoor movies on the wkeds during the summer. they have a large plot where no one's buried and 1000's of ppl come to enjoy a picnic and old-time film. we saw The Bride of Frankenstein.

a wked in Vegas to celebrate the boys' promotion to 1st Lt! an interesting time that included: the Bellagio buffett, people-watching on the Strip, waiting in line for a club for over an hour, a "grown-up" pool, fried oreos, some funny stories...

and then i got to go home to HOUSTON! i never used to be so excited, but how can i NOT be when i get to see this precious girl???

we played hard, and i guess we pooped her out! =) she fell asleep while eating...

and whew, back in town, but not quite. we drove to Anaheim 2x in one wk to watch the Rays (d's favorite team). it was weird being the "enemy" team...esp. in a stadium where i had been before to root for the home team. but ball games are a ton of fun regardless.

this snapshot does not include the special, exclusive movie screening we attended, the countless lunches i had with friends, the discipling i've had by the most wonderful woman, all the rollerblading I've done, the friends who've visited from out-of-town, the beautiful babies who were born this summer, and the books i've consumed.

i'm almost too tired to start school (HA!), but part of that involves the $200K renovations that went into my lab this summer and not wanting to unpack everything that took over 2 wks to pack... but i'll update about that later.

overall, i have definitely felt the fruits of "rest" and am rejuvenated to begin everything again.

this will be an exciting year!