I is for ice cream. I went to get ice cream on National Ice cream day with one of my best friends, and I also have made probably 10+ trips to my previous place of employment for some kick-ass tasting salted caramel gelato. That being said, I’ve definitely more than satisfied my sweet tooth this summer.

J is for JMU, J, and Jaimie! Talk about three of my favourite things :D. My whole summer has been partially dedicated to getting forms, surveys, and webinar thingies done for college, but my oh my has it been worth it. Especially when I get to move in there in a little less than 2 weeks!! J has basically been here my whole summer… and I’ll be super sad when I have to part with him on his journey to UVA the 19th…. And I just got to spend the past day and a half with his awesome secretly-a-mermaid-off-duty cousin Jaimie 😀

K is for #KURIOS! My first Cirque du Soleil show! Saw them in Tysons on August 11th and it was truly magical. Definitely will try to go to more in the future! It’s like Broadway with all the elements of a circuz thrown in in the most creative of ways.

Nicest portable bathrooms I have literally ever seen.

L is for Lucia’s. Eeeeeven though I quit working at this Italian establishment and watched my bank account slowly dwindle into nothing, I don’t regret it all that much. This has been the only summer where I haven’t had to put painstaking time and effort into dumb summer assignments, where I’ve been able to actually enjoy my vacations, and take time for myself. Sure, the money would have been nice… but I’m just as happy to have taken a vacation from a stressful work environment as well.

M is for music. My goodness. Without music this summer would have been near impossible. Music has filled my ears while I’ve sweat to reach my running goals, has helped me through some ruts of sadness, and has given me hope for how the next couple months will turn out. Honestly it’s such a mood booster and a magical healing potion.

N is for new people. I’ve met some amazing new people this summer, if not directly and in person then online, or through blogs. Just wanna say that meeting new people and forming new bonds is such a beautiful and valuable thing.

O is for Ocean City and Orientation! Ocean City, since I do vacation there every year basically… got annoying at times, but it was still fun. This year I especially cherished early morning runs along the beach under God’s glorious rays of sunlight. And I did get a little closer with my family. So there’s a plus. And then I got to go down to JMU for a one day orientation (feels like a pre-game at this point) which was awesome, and I met new people there (: )

P is for Panic! At the Disco and packing. UGH YES. My go-to playlist *selects “Artists”* *selects “shuffle all songs from this artist* ….annnnnd that’s how I have just reconnected to my PATD addiction. PATD has also been my background music for when I’ve been shoving things in boxes and whatnot… which brings me to packing. My room is literally a warzone right now as I’ve thrown things that I wanna take into multiple packing things… And I feel like I’m still only halfway done…

Q is for quirks. This kinda goes along with education, and how I’ve learned a lot about myself, and others. Specifically quirks of myself and others. Like one person I know refuses to eat orange M&M’s, and I apparently have a habit of scrunching my eyebrows together when reading. (these are just some mild examples of some quirks I’ve observed this summer).

R is for running and reading. How cool is this– I’ve gone from barely being able to run a mile to running 4 in succession…. just shows you what a bit of determination and stamina can do! And I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before… but where I used to go running, they have this cute little outdoor library.. Imagine an over-sized bird house filled with books with a window as one of the side panels that you can open to pull a book out… Well, I borrowed a book from there and it made me think about all the awesome books I’ve gotten a chance to read this summer.

S is for shopping. And geez have I done way too much shopping this summer…Both in person and online…. though some of it consisted of super bargains! (Like the like-new camera I got for only $50 when it goes for anywhere from $200-$300….!)

T is for that time I thought I had tuberculosis. *shudder*

U is for Universal Studios! …and the Island of Adventure! Woooooooo so much fun packed into that park, even though we had to wait in line for like 2 hours for a ride that didn’t feel worth the wait. But there was also that interesting burger/sushi dining experience too!

V is for VBS! And Vincent! Ahhhhh I’ve been meaning to put up a post about Vacation Bible School this year and my adventures of leading a crew of eight 5-6 year olds through our under-sea themed church activities… perhaps I’ll finish it and schedule it. But it was a blast, my group was so cute, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I could handle anything they threw at me, (including my cute, HAND CROCHETED (!!!) little purple octopus whom I lovingly call Vincent. He appears on my Instagram and Snapchat feeds a lot…. ha. My friend made a ton of crocheted animals for her friends as grad gifts, and she is so talented. She made a Squirtle for J and it’s absolutely adorable.

Vincent casually hanging in a bush thing at Disney

W is for waking up whenever. Damn. This is gonna be a hard habit to kick. The past month or so has honestly been a fall-asleep-whenever-and-wake-up-anywhere-between-7am-and-2pm fest. And with college basically 10 days away, I should start fixing my sleep habits now. Ha.

X is for X-rated. Because what’s summer without some extreme sunburns, horror films, and risky business? (;

Y is for yearning. You could say that this has been a part of my whole summer, and even part of my life for the months leading up to summer. The voice saying I want to leave, I’m done here, I want to move on and get out and explore and try new things has been at the forefront of my mind and I honestly am so excited to leave in 10 days.

Z is for zeal and plenty of zzz’s. Honestly one thing has been a blessing and (only a minor) curse this summer… and that’s my ability to say “yes” and dive into new experiences and try everything without much thinking or feel but with plenty of zeal (what a neat little rhyme there eh?). However some of these experiences have taught me about myself, and I’ve made mental notes about my behavior and what I hope to accomplish from it in the coming months. So yes, have the zeal. But also have the patience and the caution to follow it up with. And also have the rest needed to constantly whip out that “go for it” attitude every day. Sleep has been so important to me this summer… not only has it allowed me to push my physical limits, but also my mental ones. And I know that I have, pretty much, complete control of my sleep and want to use it as a tool in the coming months.

What’re the ABCs of your summer?

I tag anyone reading to try this fun recap (:

xx