I attempted to blog, I swear I did! You can look at my drafts and word documents. But I always end up taking my sweet little life and turning into to something long and serious and rambling and it becomes something that I don't feel like will have a lot of resonance with anyone else. So I just save it.
I guess I should tell you what I've been up to this sweet sweet summer time.
I got my wisdom teeth out. My sweet friend Caitlyn took care of me while I was on drugs. I smeared my bloody spit all over her window, whilst high. Bless her.
I built a patio. It was very warm outside. I dug the dirt and transported it, by wheelbarrow, to a low spot in the yard that always collected water before and now it doesn't and it is completely covered in beautiful grass now! BONUS! Then it got a little hotter. I shoveled load after load of gravel out of my dad's truck and laid it on the rectangle I dug out. Then, I repeated the process with sand. DID I MENTION IT WAS FRICKIN HOT? Then we decided on a beautiful, but most difficult pattern and started to lay bricks. Pick up a hot brick, chip the concrete off of it. Set the hot brick on the hot sand, pick up a hot mallet and pound that puppy in. Repeat for 300 square feet. I gotta admit, it was fun. Fun in a hard work, is this ever gonna end kinda way. I sweated through shirts. I came in with sand in my hair, on my face, in my shorts, everywhere. And like so many other things that require hard work, it was rewarding when it was done. But it was hot. I also "bro tanked" a few shirts. Girls, its as close to not wearing a shirt but still wearing a shirt as we are ever gonna get. I have now salvaged at least five t-shirts that I would have otherwise thrown away. Yay! Now I run in them. They give my rib cage a nice little breeze the faster I go.
Here's a picture from when I was pretty much done.
I read some books. Nothing spectacular to speak of, but for some reason, much like how I was committed to blogging this summer, I swore I would finish the new Sarah Dessen book that came out this summer but I just haven't gotten around to it. Its really good. I just cannot sit still.
I had my first gynocological experience, which did not scar me in the least. Which is good, because it means I can still possibly work in that field.
I went to the lake and camped out for a day with friends from high school. It was nice, relaxing. It felt like a very summer thing to do. We made s'mores and chatted about the glory days.
I have hung out with my BFF Dani a couple times, not nearly enough though. We've come a long way from walking our route to quiktrip every day in the summers but we still have fun no matter what we're doing. Whatever it is always involves caffeine of some sort and shopping. We're both clothing addicts!
The next thing(s) I did involves some background. When we moved into this house, it was junk. We gave it new life. And I would consider it finished now. Mostly. Things like the patio, got left out for a later time though. My sweet parents put so much time and money and effort into making this home beautiful. So it was kind of an unspoken thing that I wanted to do this summer, was tie up the loose ends. There was some grout in the kitchen that hadn't been scrubbed off. Some places needed touch up paint. The laundry room and my room needed base board and caulk. The spare bedroom/craft room became a place to put things that we didn't know what to do with. As did the garage. So I organized the garage and the back bedroom, put in base boards, painted trim, scrubbed things (all with help). I wanted to do these things 1)because they drive me crazy, 2)because I wanted to earn my keep around here, 3)because I know that they wanted these things done as much as I did but its just tedious to do things like that after a full workday. I'm pretty proud of what I have done. I still have a couple things to finish up before we can safely say that the house no longer needs any actual work other than just upkeep and maintenance, but it is very very close.
I have been crafting! Back in April I made this apron hook out of a hanger and an old book for my little mama. At first it reinspired the scrapbooker in me, but I have since decided that that is much too expensive for a college student. I now take crap I find around the house and make stuff! ITS WONDERFUL!
Here's the hook almost done haha. I just had to glue the flower onto the hook you see on the left side. Maybe I'll actually take a picture of my finished products someday.
Then I made these pom poms flowers for a little decoration in my dorm next year. Can you guess our colors? They wouldn't freaking rotate because I had to upload it straight from my SD card.
Then, today (my mom and) I made a tote bag out of one of my dad's old dress shirts! It was super easy. Easy enough that we even added pockets and buttons and braided the handles. You will be able to see me sporting this bag starting this fall at OBU! Get excited!
I love it! We also made a cover for the cushion of the little laying bench I am making with my dad so we can have a place to sit! Aren't we a handy little bunch of Hills?!
I have been experimenting with natural beauty products this summer. I didn't wash my hair for three weeks! And I was also running (meaning sweating) EVERYDAY. I just used baking soda and apple cider vinegar once a week. And I never used any kind of hair product. I found my hair to look absolutely wonderful- it was thick and pouffed just right, and didn't look greasy at all but it did FEEL rather greasy. My reasoning: Shampoos strip the dirt off, yes but they also take the sebum off your hair, which contains the nutrients your body makes to help it stay healthy. I stopped because I just wasn't used to feeling the oil and I wanted to see which I liked better. I think I'll keep doing a mixture of actual shampoo and not washing for a while. I made my own deodorant and toothpaste too and it is exponentially cheaper but it has no scent or flavor. (Which is why I still have a store bought kind of each.) I have also found that my face is well on its way to sun damage. I started putting vaseline on at night and sleeping in it. If you can stand the greasiness, you should try it. My skin is so soft in the morning and no pimples! My face tends to be dry though. Use caution if you're oily!
I watched my nieces for a week. THEY EAT SO MUCH FOOD. Looking back already, I can say that it was a fun week so it wasn't too emotionally scarring. I'm just glad I don't have to do it. I'm glad that I am their aunt. I love them like nobody's business, we can hang out and have fun like friends would, and at the end of the day they can always make me laugh.
I have my very own ATTORNEY. Its not under the most ideal of circumstances of course, but I still have to admit it was a pretty cool experience.
I went to the podiatrist. Apparently, I'm biomechanically retarded and my first metatarsal is cattywompus, causing my toe pain. And I have bunions. So I get screws and plates put in and a full bunionectomy. Hopefully soon!
Before that happened, I committed to running a HALF MARATHON with my best pal Caitlyn. We were gonna shoot for November but thats all dependent on surgery now so we don't know when yet, BUT IT IS HAPPENING!
I got a dog! And he has turned out to be a pretty good one. He potty trained quickly and aside from some licking and nibbling that still needs correction, he is exactly the lazy companion I wanted.
He doesn't really look this sad all the time.
I ran another 5k. It was far from my best but it was also far from an ideal day for me to be racing. My stomach just wasn't having any of that halluhbaloo.
Zach and I, and all of our parents took a trip out to Porter for an evening and HAD A BLAST. I ate a corn dog and a funnel cake and it was exactly what I wanted. We walked around until we saw everything and then we found the most wonderful sort of trashy redneck thing I have ever experienced. ---MUDBOGGING!!! Seriously its a mudpit and they time these monster trucks going through it. Mud flings everywhere. And if I had been born into a trashier, drunker, farming family a little more down south, it might just have been my most favorite thing ever.
I shadowed my pediatrician. I watched baby after baby get shot after shot. I ran a CBC on a teenager with headaches. I looked at a sinus xray. I love the medical field. Probably not pediatrics though.
I was worried that summer would lack purpose for me, with no real job, no earning of a degree in the works. I like sleeping in and having nothing to do, but after a day of doing nothing, I don't like it. I regret doing nothing. Its a waste. So, while it hasn't been the most glamorous of summers, and I have spent a lot of time at home, I feel good about it. I've been doing things. I haven't been slothy and sluggish. I've been living the dream, and I am very very happy at things right now.
Phew. I am sorry that was so long. I am seriously impressed if you made it to the end. I promise I WILL WRITE MORE OFTEN. I already have another idea. :)
"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace."
