A Big Finish!

For all intents and purposes, my Summer Vacation is basically over in the next few days...finished! All in all, it was a good summer! Although I didn't do too much blogging or stamping, there are some things that I did do. I saw a few concerts- with a biggie coming up next Thurs....Donny and Marie (I know- you're jealous...can't wait!), went a lot of fun places with many different groups of friends; basically living out my suitcase during the month of July and beginning of August, took some cool tech classes through school, spent a lot of time in and near the water, spent a lot of quality time with family and good friends, read some good books,and rode my bike LOTS of different places.

I also learned a lot about myself this summer and dealt with some rather harsh and sad issues, but with the help of my amazing friends and family (and some other special people as well), feel in a better place to deal with those issues. Lots of tears; it's not easy, and it's not going to be easy, but it is getting easier.

My summer vacation will end with an evening of dinner and stamping at my house with some good friends tomorrow night, and an evening of cross stitching and dinner at Jayne's house with the cross stitch group on Saturday. A perfect finish to a great summer!

So...here are a few pictures of things I have completed:


Mermaids- my goal was to get it done before summer was over and I did! This will be framed and hung in Michigan.



The book Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert. Excellent book, in my opinion, about the tradition of marriage around the world ( as well as somewhat of a sequel to Eat, Pray, Love). On a side note, I saw Eat, Pray, Love the other night with a group of friends. I had read the book and liked it, but I really enjoyed the movie a lot! I thought Julia Roberts was excellent. I love to hear her laugh and have missed seeing her on the big screen, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The following pictures were taken on my last real bike ride this morning. The weather was perfect and I got as far as I wanted to go but then just kept riding ( 2 1/2 more miles). I had brought my camera with, so there is a nature preserve that the trail runs through, and I got off my bike and just stood and listened to all the sounds around me and snapped pictures for awhile. I think I will miss that part of summer the most!

The pictures below were taken on our trip to Michigan last week- the last one before school starts when Molly brought up her two friends Miranda and Shannon. Even though Michigan will be visited a few more times before we close up for the season, it just isn't the same as going in the summertime!

The last 2 pictures were the final finish of Mollyfest 2010, aka Molly's 16th birthday and all the celebrations that ensued. "Mollyfest" concluded almost a week after her actual birthday with a group of 8 friends going to see a sold out Chicago Fire soccer game against the New York Red Bulls.