It's that time of the year when everything shifts for the summer. School gets out, pools open, summer sports pick up. Students kick their feet up in preparation for four months with no homework to weigh them down. Swimsuits are dug out of the bottom of the drawers, flip flops are unburied in the closet. The sun is used to fry skin to a crisp tan.

  As for me, summer is approaching all too quickly, coming with a depressing cloud. Why, you might ask? Well, lets see... one of my best friends is moving out of state in two weeks, and my other best friend is going to be gone the entire summer, from May 31st until the beginning of August. And the rest of my friends live at least 30 minutes away from me, so with gas prices the way they are, seeing them is not going to be an option as often as I would like.

  Because of this, I am searching for things to keep me occupied over the summer.

  I am currently on a softball team through Hillside Little League, and I will play games with them throughout June. After that, there is Swim Team, but since the swim meets are on Wednesday evenings, I will have to choose between swimming and youth group, which is a very tough choice, since Gravity is absolutely amazing.

  I have also had inspiration for a story; whether a novel or a short story, I am not sure. But it is an idea I would like to play around with, and since I will have so much free time this summer, I have a feeling I will be spending some quality time with my laptop.

   I will also be trying some different styles of art, I am really wanting to experiment with oils! I am also considering making stop-motion short films with my drawings.

  I have recently taken up running, which is a great way to deal with emotions, and get a work out since we don't have our gym memberships anymore. I have a good neighborhood for running in, with lots of hills balanced out by lots of flat streets, depending on the mood I am in. I like to take my dog with me, but recently she has been showing signs of age. She has trouble taking the stairs, and she spends the majority of her time laying down. So you can imagine how she is on long runs. It is quite frustrating. And sad. We've had her since she was a little thing, and now seeing her start to hurt is strange, and a bit difficult. Her agility training days are over...

  I'll also be reading some. I want to get through Les Miserables, but I'm not sure if that's actually going to happen, since I just got past the Thenardiers... and I have been reading it for over a year...

 I will, however, be finishing The Edge Chronicles. My friend and I are currently having a competition to see who can get through all ten of the books first (winner gets an Icee from the other!) I'm winning, by almost an entire book. :D Just had to put that out there...

  I'll also be job searching. Yay...

  The number one thing on my "to do" list for the summer is spend time with God. I am going to read the crap out of my bible, and pray my brains out. Maintaining a relationship with Jesus isn't easy, which is why I am going to be filling up the spaces my friends are leaving with him.

  And that is basically my summer, right there. I do want to organize a couple of parties, I really want to hit a lake with people!

  Hope your summer is awesome-tastitc.

DON'T PANIC