A Happy Summer! :)

OK, I want to have a happy summer.  My last semester at school was really hard and I'm SO happy it's over!  :)  Yes, it was good (overall), my first year at BYU-Idaho!  (great! school by the way- SO glad I went there), but they're were definitely challenges that helped me grow into a stronger person.  I am SO grateful for my friends, my family, and my personal convictions of divinity that helped me through this process ...and still are.  I am happy to be home, healing, and HOPEFUL! :) 

This week, I was thinking about what I like about summer.  I am happy to announce that I have been accepted into a program called Mormon American Travel Studies, where a group of 30-40 BYU-Idaho students with three faculty members accompanied by their wives travel to the east coast to hit the MOST AMAZING church history, American history, and Classic Literature sites (like Waldon Pond) in the U.S.  I am SO grateful and hopeful that this trip will be life-changing.  (More to come on the details of this trip! :) I'm very excited and working hard now to create the best possible experience.  Some of that is money related,:) ...SOOOO... I'm earning money!! :)  WHOO-HOO!  Did I say I was excited!? :)

This is currently the most exciting event I have to look forward to this summer (sadly, at the expense of a family reunion-ish camping trip which I would absolutely love to go on,  but can't because of timing).  The best thing is that's it's sunny, but I have a list!  ...

10 reasons...Okay, 12!

1.      I love not having homework.  It’s a great break!

2.      wearing flip flops

3.      the grass, that’s so green

4.      swimming

5.      watermelon.  I love watermelon.  Especially the feel of eating at BBQ’s with family & friends

6.     the great outdoors- the weather just encourages exploring outside and it’s wonderful to be in the woods, at the lake,  or on river on a beautiful sunny day

7.      the SUN.  I love having sun out more often

8.      FREE time…OK, this is decreasing as I grow and become more financially independent, but it’s still there somewhere more than the rest of the year!  (Again, no homework!)

9.      Moms; they become more fun around summer time and take you places

10.   The opportunity to start again, feel fresh and keep moving forward! (I feel this more than I do in January ...for some reason)

11.   Oh!  …and I LOVE traveling….to the coast, camping, to see family, & THIS SUMMER: the east coast, which I’ve never been to before!  I’m so excited!

12.   Going barefoot in the warm weather! It's great!

I feel like I need to tell you this was inspired by a nasty bug bite that happened at the end of last week and had repercussions that cramped my style over the weekend.  I got stressed because it flarred up, became really swollen (after my itching...:)  yes, I itched it a lot! :)  it was really itchy... :{ Sorry Dad!  Just to give you an idea, it was about 4 inches wide or more swollen, it hurt, it became uncomfortable to walk (it was on my ankle-so, close to my foot), my ankle looked unattractive, AND I was on benedryl!! This was the worst part!  I came home Friday night and was looking forward to something relaxing and stress-relieving because I had been working almost all day and I was tired.  I got to babysit my brother, Spencer which had the potential to be fun, but turned out horrible because I was tired and drowsy.   It was insisted by my parents and their friends (one of which, a doctor) that I take oral benedryl, not just a topical so that I could heal.  Later, it became more clear to me why -it got worse before it got better- but I didn't like the side-effects AT ALL!! It was miserable.  Saturday was similar in experience and I got worried for about 5-10 minutes...well, maybe longer, that I would have to go to the doctor , BUT, thankfully, I had this underlying feeling that everything would be fine and I just needed to wait it out.  I took a nap and waited it out. It was fine, but uncomfortable...AND, it kind of ruined the first part of my weekend.  

  The good thing is that now, almost a week later, it's mostly healed (still not sure what bit me though!) so I'm good!  It's okay.  I like that it reminded me what I don't like about spring and summer so that I could remember what I do LOVE about summer.  To me, there's really more pluses than negatives and I LOVE the season, just not the allergies, the bites, and... the [really] no A/C. (I know third world countries don't have this and it's probably more hot in most of them than it gets here, but it's a really nice commodity that helps take the smallest inconvenience out of the season.) Over analytical maybe... sorry! :)

1In ending, I would like to say I'm SO grateful for summer ...and these berries that I had with my dinner tonight! :)  They were simple, delicious, and beautiful.  That's one more thing that I love about summer! :)