sweet summertime :)

Hey there friends!

So I thought I'd start my first official post with a little recap of what I've been up to lately! First things first, I GRADUATED from HIGH SCHOOL!!! How's that for exciting news! But really, the whole idea that high school is now a thing of the past has yet to hit me. I'm still hanging out with my school friends so it just feels like any other summer! I do, however, dearly miss the beautiful state of Georgia :( My friends and I did the most random things ever, but we always had fun!

If any of my N-A-T-U-R-E buddies read this, know that I think of our spazzy and crazy selves often. :)

As far as Summer 2010 goes, there is quite a bit in store:

1. My "summer job" involves me, my sister Olivia, and my best attempts to keep her entertained during these long summer days. It's actually quite nice since we are just looking for ways to have fun! So far, we have ventured to downtown Salt Lake's Liberty Park and had a picnic. While exploring the park we discovered a sketch little amusement park! If you've seen Something Wicked This Way Comes, where there's a creepy, haunted carnival, that's sort of what it felt like. BUT ALSO, if you've heard of or seen Charlie, the ferris wheel in the movie is from that very park!

We've got quite a bit of summer ahead of us still, which will hopefully involve many trips to the pool, snow shacks, playgrounds, hikes, and such.

2. I'm leaving for FRANCE a week from today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm pretty darn excited, if you didn't already notice. :) I will be traveling abroad with my mom and sister, so I'm already sensing many entertaining stories of crazy European mishaps. They are certain to happen with the 3 of us together..haha. I cannot wait! My mom just confirmed where we will be staying in Paris, which is this little tiny apartment only 1 block away from the Champs-Elysees and l'Arc de Triomphe! We will be doing our best to blend in with the chic Parisian crowd and not stick out like sore American thumbs. Hopefully my French speaking will come back to me fairly quickly, so our American-ness could be kept on the DL...haha. The theme of our trip is SPONTANEITY, but our general itinerary includes a week in Paris, a couple days at Normandy, perhaps a jaunt over to La Baule--a beautiful beach in the Bretagne region, and then we'll make our way down to Southern France...coming to a grand total of 2 weeks! This will definitely be an adventure to remember :)

I didn't realize how long this post was getting, so I'll wrap it up fast!

Here are a few more things I'm looking forward to this summer:

3. DISNEYLAND--definitely one of the happiest places on earth!

4. Going to Red Mango ALOT, with one of my best friends Cami Phillips, and completing the amazing feat of eating an entire LARGE size. It actually won't be that difficult. We've trained ourselves well for when that moment comes.

5. Registering for my BYU class schedule!!!

6. You know, the usual--hanging out with friends and having random adventures!

7. Reading as many of Jane Austen's novels as my slow-reading will allow! I'm reading Pride & Prejudice right now, and I'm enjoying it very much, very much.

8. Playing on my new violin!!! I got a new violin as a graduation present, and I love it! It's beautiful and plays beautifully. I've waited for a new violin for so long, and couldn't be happier with this one!

Hopefully my first post was semi-successful and you didn't fall asleep reading it...

Be back soon! :)