Fun Times and Tan Lines

I haven't been writing much about my endeavors lately because not that many embarrassing things have happened to me this month. (I say that knowing very well that I spilled diet coke on myself at least 4 times this week...).
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Summers notoriously fly by, just ask Phineas and Ferb.

Summer ended a month ago and fall is in full swing. But over the last week, I've reflected a lot about what this summer was for me:

-excruciating
-daring
-surprising
-ice cream

First off, this summer was excruciating to say the least. I have never been the homesick type, but this summer I have been longing for home. I missed my mom and dad, my friends, the little kids I used to babysit. I missed my little brothers and hockey games. I missed the humidity and not having to wear a sweatshirt at night. I missed the taco shack by my house and late-night Whataburger runs. I missed the city itself and it was physically painful at times. I love my home so much and still count the days until I get to be back in the Lone Star State.

Cliff Diving. Night Hikes. Weekend Trips. Spelunking. Bonfires. Lake trips. Floating Rivers. My tuition would be paid for if I had a nickel for every time I said, "I'm pretty sure this is exactly what my mom taught me NOT to do" (i.e. jumping off something into an unsupervised natural body of water.) I'm grateful for the people who encouraged me to try new things. I can't wait for winter to come, so I can try out even more of what Cache Valley has to offer.

I never thought I'd have the courage to do a lot of those things and I was surprised when I loved doing all of them. I did not expect this summer to be so much fun. I met people who've changed my life and I never thought that could happen in one summer either. I lived with my sister for the summer, fulfilling a childhood dream of ours. This summer was so much more than I could ever had expected. It was an excellent preface to the beginning of my first year at Utah State.

Not to mention a lot of ice cream.

All of the daring adventures I talked about earlier either started or ended with a 59 cent ice cream cone from McDonalds. It was amazing. I made some of the closest friends I've ever had over this summer and as weird as it is, ice cream is a huge symbol of that for me.

Winter is coming, there is already snow on the mountains and I have a long list of things I want to experience before it does:

-beat Max at pool
-hike the wind caves
-go to a USU Hockey Game
-go to the Sizzler with Matt
-bowling at the fun Park
-Huntsman hall movie night
-joint birthday party
-friendsgiving
-got to a corn maze
-country swing
-willow park zoo
-star gaze at Tony's grove
-Potato Museum
-attend a Quidditch game
-go camping
-hammock on Saddleback mountain
-chalk the tunnels
-take a weekend trip to somewhere warm