This Day: Summer Winding Down?

So after spending almost 2 weeks in Brazil, what else is there to do in a summer? Get a job? yeeeaaahh, sorry, not doing that during my last summer. I commend my fellow classmates for holding jobs/shadowing opportunities/research positions during the summer. I took another route because I knew that one day I would regret not taking advantage of this free time. It's who I am, and I'm completely okay with that :)

So back to the question of what else I did. Well, I'd like to say a lot of things. Let's start at the beginning:

I went and saw the musical Chicago with my good friend, Lauren, in Memphis at the Orpheum. Seeing such talented people perform is always a treat.

I watched several World Cup games.. and after the U.S. was eliminated, I pulled solely for wonderful Germany. Next world cup, boys, next world cup.

I visited Smith Lake in Alabama with my friends Jenna Lee and Kate plus 8.. (ok, there were other people, just maybe not 8); this was the first time in about 2 years where I actually got a tan (can it be true????). I saw several beautiful shows of fireworks from the boat. It's a delight to see the colors in the sky and in the water.

I went to Vicksburg, MS to watch my sister compete in the Miss MS pageant.. and was fortunate enough to be there when they announced her as 3rd runner up! Her family and friends were so proud of her! This same weekend Lauren, Jenna Lee, and I threw precious pregnant Katie Zumo a baby shower :) How old are we????

I went white water rafting for the 2nd time in my life down the Ocoee in Tennessee. I did fall out, naturally, but it was all part of our guide's plan. I promise. After about a minute into his "let's surf our raft" moment, all 6 passengers and the guide were out in the river. Thanks a lot, Treyton. This was also my first experience camping in a tent. I will go ahead and admit it--I didn't hate it. Nature isn't as big an enemy as I thought.

I spent 5 days touring Charleston with Lauren. This I won't go into as much detail as I hope to write a full post about it, pics included.

I visited the first ever Jackson Beer Fest. I just wanted to see what it was all about. I'm glad that I can mark that off the list of things to do in this life. Mississippi is slowly evolving. We may take longer than the other states, but we do things in our own stride.

Lastly, I was fortunate enough to help celebrate the wedding of a good friend of mine, Ashley Brown, this past weekend. She and Simon are that couple that makes you smile when you just see them walking together. The whole weekend was a mini-reunion, as well, because I saw friends from all over.. from Seattle to Atlanta. Weddings need to happen more often. I was so honored to be an honorary bridesmaid on Ashley and Simon's special day!

Most of those activities were on the weekends, so I spent the weekdays catching up with as many people as I could, catching as many movies as my checkbook would allow, and relaxing and sleeping as much as I could dream. Books were read, people were seen, and in the end, my summer was exactly as I would have hoped it to be.

Now what we all want to see.... pictures :)