Summer is turning to fall

Wow, this summer has truly been a whirlwind. It is like I blinked, and here we are, three weeks away from school starting up again.

Jonathan earned an 8.5% raise as well as a title promotion, and I am so proud of him. He turned in his two week resignation at his part time job, and will have a lot more free time this fall to bike, try new recipes and finish projects around the house. (Like finish staining the deck; a project that began last October and we never got around to finishing!)

My summer internship doing international tax at a large multinational here in St. Louis has been great. I have learned so much about tax, working full time, myself, and the world in just three short months. I have also grown to appreciate the freedom and flexibility that I get at school. I have loved my internship, but I am glad I have two more years to be a student and to be somewhat free to travel, to explore, and to grow. I know that I have matured a lot and will be ready to take on an office job when I get out of school. But students really do have the good life in so many ways and I am fortunate to have the ability and the means to continue my education.

Part of that flexibility means travelling. Jonathan and I are taking a week long trip to Disney World to cap off the summer! I plan on going to Sweden for Christmas, and am hoping that I can convince at least my mom (possibly also my dad) to come with me! My sister will be studying abroad in Sweden until the end of January, and I would love to see her and to see Sweden. I know it will be crazy cold, but I’ve heard it will also be quite festive! Finally, Jonathan and I are planning to go to Boston to meet our new niece or nephew in May!

Several of our friends and family members are expecting! I am so excited for all of the beautiful children that will be brought into our lives. I will be an aunt for the fifth time, and my parents are going to be grandparents! It is hard to imagine my parents being grandparents! It is such a joy-filled time in our lives to see our friends taking this next step and embarking on the journey of parenthood.

Speaking of family and friends, we have had such a great summer with so many visitors. I reconnected with a good friend from college and she came out to visit me right as summer started! We had a great time and I hope to visit her back! Jonathan’s sisters each came through here with their families, and his little brother visited with us for a week. My parents visited at the beginning of summer, and just recently my older sister visited. I also drove down to Cape Girardeau to meet one of my bridesmaids halfway between myself in St. Louis and her home in Memphis. It was a short but wonderful visit!

And that has been our summer! We have furniture being delivered tonight and people coming over for dinner this evening. So I better end this entry now and get busy!

Let the summer of fun commence!

First, thanks, Jonathan, for posting those car pictures! I was very busy studying for exams and finishing up school projects.

I finished my last exam Thursday night around 8 p.m., and came home to a very messy house, a very sweet husband, and a very relaxing feeling. Jonathan took me over to Applebee’s for a celebratory “You-finished!” dinner. It was great.

We’ve got some really busy weekends coming up. Next weekend, Shannon, a friend of mine from USC, is coming to visit! I’m incredibly excited as I haven’t seen her in two years! I can’t wait to show her around St. Louis and hang out! The weekend after that, my parents are visiting, and the weekend after that I am either going to South Carolina to see my grandmother, or to Oklahoma to see Jonathan’s sisters and their families.

And I start my job in a little over a week, so that is exciting as well.

We have a lot of fun events to look forward to this summer, too. We’ve got tickets to see Wicked in July, an anniversary coming up, a trip to West Virginia/Ohio in June, a girl’s night at a jewelry-making class in June, and hopefully some camping or a lake trip at some point as well!

I’ve taken this next week off. No school and no work, so I can just relax a bit! I want to get our house back in order, and start sorting out stuff that we don’t need any longer to see in the city-wide garage sale.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to this summer!