Summah time.

It is high time I get a blog post out there in cyberspace, wouldn't you say? :) Hello, blog readers alike! I have been all over the place...physically, mentally, emotionally, and all other "lys", but I am back...for today. Let's see....where to begin...? June 7: I flew to the great state of Minnesota, and got to sleep in my childhood bedroom for the last time. I also got to see a new little baby girl, and a very tired mama and daddy - congratulations again, Megan and Nick! I love that little peanut. June 8-9: Wedding frenzy in Mason City, Iowa. No trip home would be complete without a drive in the minivan with the Cole family. Heidi provides the Vacation Bible School music, Sasha and Lexi sing along, while Nate drives and I enjoy every second with my family. When we got to Iowa, I jumped out of the minivan and said, "What can I do to help?" From that moment on, it was wedding fun! My cousin Noelle got married in her parent's backyard, with the reception there too. Man, it was the most gorgeous day, filled with LOTS of smiles, hugs, toasts, committments, and DANCING. Wa-hoo! Congratulations, Noelle and Rick! I could not be a more proud cousin. Rick and Noelle love Jesus so much, and I know that they will honor Him in their life together. Yay for them! June 10-17: Family time at the lake. Oh, this place looks better and better every year. My parents built a house in place of my grandparent's old place, and man, is it awesome. I can't even explain it, you just have to come visit! (Seriously, come visit.)I also got to hang with Katie and her cutie pie kiddos, Logan and Evelyn. She is a good mama...so fun to hang with her! The rest of summer so far... I have been lovin' life here in SoCal. Currently, I am house-sitting for the Slager family, and it is THE. BEST. EVER. Direct TV? Check. Ice cream in the freezer? Check. Walking distance to Starbucks? Check. Love it. Only downside at first was not having Internet access...Once I (er...my friend Megan Moore) figured out that we needed to actually CALL Verizon to have them send us a new "box" (what are those things actually called again? They are black...you hook it to your computer, it gives you Internet...?) and we (ahem...I) got it all hooked up, we are wireless and good to go. Kind of hard to get online grad school work done without the Internet. I was hitting up Starbucks (not a bad deal) and trying to get work done for a few days there, but now I can just drive/walk to Starbucks, get my latte, and head back home to do my work. :) (No really, I did that this morning. Drove to SB in my pjs, went through the drive-thru, came home, did homework for an hour, went back to bed. It was great.) Summer......let's see......I have gotten lots of hang out time with friends from church and from my old place of work, and am loving it. Turns out I really enjoy playing organized sports with my pals...we played whiffle ball the other weekend, then I played volleyball 2 days in a row this week. I have woken up sore all three times after these activities. I'm getting old! My grad classes are going alright...I'm taking two again this summer, and the other day I was texting with my sister, telling her I didn't have time to do this and that, and she said, "Aren't you a teacher? Don't you get summers off?" Ah...gotta love older sisters. :) If I wanted I could literally spend all day working on this stuff, but I try to balance it with a little bit of "Ellen" here and there. Alright, time to get back to work...but this post is for my aunt Mary Beth, my friend Megan Moore, my mom, and all you other fine blog readers out there. Happy 5th of July (and happy birthday, Jenny!) *The lovely bride and groom on June 9, 2012*