Wow, talk about neglecting your blog when you already didn't write as much as you would have liked to anyway. I'm not sure if I can even describe my summer; I guess busy would best describe it. Not the busy kind of summer I had last year, where we traveled all of the time and got to go to so many different places. But the busy kind of summer in which I worked my ass off putting in over 450 hours of community service for AmeriCorps. (And one more week to go!)
My site has proven to be way more than stressful for me, but the kids make it worth the while, and I have grown so fond of them over these two short months. It's honestly been such a life changing thing and I feel myself growing more and more as a person, which is why I will hopefully be able to serve the full-year term as well. (The end of August to sometime in June, I believe). I have one more full week with the kids and AmeriCorps for the summer, then I will be going in for the last week of camp for three days... then that's it. I have to say my goodbyes and move on. Ugh, it's so difficult even thinking about it. I've already cried about four times while I've been there, and I can only imagine how this is going to go when the last day of camp comes. But that's life, I suppose.
As for outside of work, I haven't done much, unfortunately. My dear 18-year-old brother left for the Marines on Monday, and that is still affecting me in a way that I can't really describe yet. My older brother who is in the Air force leaves in September to go to Afghanistan for six months, and we will be able to go down to South Carolina in two weeks to spend time with his family and say our goodbyes. (Too many goodbyes this summer). But I do look forward to seeing them, especially my niece, Evelyn. She is so big and she makes my heart smile, I love spending time with that sweet girl. I am also taking my GRE test on the 27th, and haven't really studied for it. (Like at all...) So we will see how that goes; afterward, I will be getting ready to apply to graduate school for next fall. Zach has been finishing his album which has been pretty stressful on him. Talks about future and trepidation of what will come if his album actually gets "big" enough for them to have to travel a lot have been slightly occurring. Personally, I feel happy and think it will be a beautiful thing. But of course I know how hard it will be, the decisions that will need to be made will be difficult, but I think this is where the beauty of life comes into play. Who said we all have to follow one path? And who knows until we get there. Right?

I am excited for August. It is a lot of change in a short period of time, and with change can only come growth of some sort. At least that's how I feel right now.

As for the shortage of pictures I've taken this summer...








(Taken by Adam Dow)