Sweet, Sweet Summer

Last Camp Group

Latvia 2005

The last day of third grade

The beginning of summer always makes me nostalgic. I remember how exciting it was as a child, the little things you know. It would have to be 90 degrees for three days in a row, for me to be allowed to go swimming. The anticipation of the last day of school. Getting cable for the summer if I had perfect attendance. Every year after the "end of the school year party" my mom and I would meet my dad at the pool for usually the first time of the season. My birthday. Vacation Bible School. Children's/Middle/High school camp. Latvia. Things are quite different this year. Not bad, but just different. Of course the biggest difference is for the first time in nine years I won't be going to Latvia. Even as I type this, big fat crocodile tears stream down my cheeks. If you know me at all, you know how dear Latvia is to my heart. Maybe I'll blog about it further, later. Anyway, I'm going to real summer school, and for the first time in my whole life I will be in school on my birthday. I wonder if I could bring cupcakes to my 90 something peers in 20th century music. For the first time since I was 4 I won't be a part of a VBS. I'm going to have craft withdrawals. On the brighter side, I get to have my first summer with a husband. I'm not sure what this means. I hope it means little weekend trips to the beach, swimming in our empty apartment complex, and enjoying a mostly empty BRYAN/COLLEGE STATION! I'm most excited about that. I'm also pretty excited about turning 21. So, I'm going to embrace this summer with open arms, tears, joy, and trust. Here's to a great summer.

Mother's Day Extravaganza

Well...almost. On Mother's Day my mom, and Joe's family came up for lunch. I had a lot of fun planning the meal, dessert, presents, decorations et cetera. One thing I did was print old, and recent pictures of us with our moms, and put them all throughout the apartment. Unfortunately, Mother's Day fell right in-between finals, papers, and just the week from you know where; however, it was really great to just forget the world for a few hours and enjoy my family. Joe and I hadn't seen Maren since March, so it was way fun to catch up. Of course, the most important aspect of the afternoon was loving on our mammas. We are so blessed by two Godly, loving women. They are absolutely one of the biggest reasons why we are, who we are. We couldn't be more grateful for you both. Again, I am so thankful that Joe loves his M-I-L, and tells her often. I couldn't imagine a better M-I-L. Terry is absolutely my second mom, and I'm so thankful for our relationship.

Six Flags, More Fun

Is that the saying? I think so... I am way behind on my blogging, so I will try and make up some time. Right now I'm taking a study break from the hours of listening to music, and reading about music. I'm not sure how much I like it anymore. Anyway, so last weekend-not mothers day (blog to come)- but the weekend before that we had a little road trip to Dallas to shop, hang with my cousins and their kids, and go to SIX FLAGS. This is the first little escape Joe and I had since the honeymoon, and I was excited about making it feel as 'road-tripish' as possible. Our first stop was in the Czech town West, Texas right outside of Waco. Two of my music professors went on and on about how great Czech beer was, so I thought we could stop and experience a bit of Czech culture. I was wrong. Oh, so very wrong. Joe did get a Czech beer, that they have at our HEB and we ate in a building with no air-conditioning in the back (where the restrooms were) and a thirty year old refrigerator that was filled with pre cut veggies. Ugg, I was a little grossed out, and just plan disappointed. The stop wasn't a total bust, we did get some great kolaches. From there we headed to the Allen Outlets. MMmmm it was awesome. We both got some very cute things, for very good prices. After that we went to my cousin Peter's pad. We had a fun filled evening with him, his wife Melissa, and their two boys Gabe and Josh. One of the highlights of the evening was running in circles around the couch, pretending to be skate boarding (or something) with baskets on our heads for helmets. It was our workout for the day. Saturday my Aunts family came up, as well as my mom and we went to six flags. It was so fun. The first half of the day was spent in the kiddy corner, and the second was spent on roller coasters. I love me some roller coasters. Finally, on Sunday we went to their church and heard my old youth minister-John Durham- preach. It was awesome. One of the most convicting sermons I have heard in a long time. That afternoon we celebrated Oksana's 15th birthday and Joshua's 4th. It was great, and we were a little sad to leave.