Everything is coming together now.

Well, yesterday was the first day of fall, so I am finally going to do my Top Ten Summer 2010.

10. Food Network
During the summer, I spent a lot of time alone in my apartment, which was equipped with HDTV and fancy cable, so naturally I spent more time watching TV than doing homework. Having settled on the food concentration in my major and wanting to learn how to cook since I no longer have an unlimited meal plan, I watched a lot of Food Network. This was cool because I have a new appreciation for all types of cakes. And side-note, since I never had company, it was nice not to worry about doing the dishes every 5 minutes.

9. Drawing with Johnny
My brother is really annoying. I have always loved him, but occasionally he is hard to handle, like when he tries to bite my knee (yeah...he actually does that, weird, right? And he's 16! He can drive by himself now--that blows my mind!) and when he threw a dart into my lip when I was about 6 years old. But I like when we draw together, because it's something to bond over, and I feel like he actually looks up to me in that area. This was cool because even though we don't see each other often anymore, and we are very different, we still have common things that we enjoy doing.

8. Getting a job
Even though it was a very short-term job, I am glad that I found a source of income to make up for my lack of job for most of the summer. We got paid for lunch every day, paid for overtime, and they had trays of cookies all over. It was hot and sweaty much of the time, but it was fun to see so many different apartments, so I hope that will help me decide where to live next year. This was cool because I got to meet a lot of people and get out and do something instead of sitting and watching YouTube 24/7.

7. Atlas Shrugged
This book was honestly one of my favorite books I've ever read. It was a struggle to get through the 50-something page philosophy "lecture", but I read every word. I don't agree with a lot of Ayn Rand's "objectivism," but this book was a work of art. The main character was a strong, confident woman engineer in the 1950s-ish, and there was mystery, love, a good story, but most of all, substance. This was cool because the words meant something more than fluff, and it was refreshing and eye-opening.

6. A Very Potter Sequel
Words can not even express how much I love this. My only regret is that I did not know about it soon enough to see it live, since I live only about 45 minutes away from where it was performed. So creative, so funny, so catchy, so perfect. You can bet I downloaded and basically memorized the whole soundtrack. This was just plain cool. It doesn't even need a reason.

5. Annual Up North Trip
This was really my only "vacation" of the summer. My mom doesn't like going up north because she brings so many things that she thinks she needs in order to feel comfortable, but to me, the point is just to forget about that stuff and eat summery junk food (Flavor-Ice, watermelon, chips, hot dogs, s'mores...), not shower for days, hang out at the pool, play card games and board games, ride motorcycles, enjoy the view of the valley, and hang out with family. This was cool because I have definitely improved in dirtbiking this year.

4. Coxing a boat
I am a rower. I am generally considered too big and too un-assertive to be a coxswain, but there was no one else, so I was asked if I would like to cox a four, just for a swing row. The cox-boxes were not charged because no one had been in the boathouse for a long time, and the boat was bow-loaded, so I had to turn and yell behind me, but I didn't crash into anything, and it was a nice day and I wore cool sunglasses. This was cool because I was proud of myself for trying something that I previously thought was scary and not failing.

3. Clan sleepover
Not to be confused with Klan, which of course has a bad connotation, the clan is my sisterhood. The five of us went to school together, and it's sad that some of us went to different colleges and we don't get to see each other ever day, so it's always fun when we get to hang out and feel whole again. Usually something mischevious happens, or we try to make a fun food to eat, or we watch music videos and try to learn the dances and take embarrassing videos of us looking ridiculous (Single Ladies, anyone?). This was cool because no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, it always feels natural, and it is great to know that these awesome girls will be by my side no matter what.

2. Weekends at home
Hanging out with my number one favorite kitty, seeing Toy Story 3 and Eclipse, and a few other movies, reminiscing about summers past with my not-clan best friend, going to church with my family, feasting on food from a fully-stocked fridge, jamming out to crappy music on the 1.5-hour drive home and back every week, sometimes getting distracted by the amazing sunset. This was cool because even though I am at university most of the time now, a large part of my heart will always live at the place where I grew up since I was 3 years old.

1. BEDA
I almost made it every day, too. But what's important about this is that I learned how to be myself in my writing, not caring if I lived up to expectations, not apologizing, realizing there would be better days than others. I am still Clueless, but more and more loose strings are being tied together. I am learning about myself and my world every day, and I have learned that sometimes, even if you think you aren't ready for something, if you don't take the opportunity, you will realize that you were ready all along and there might not be the same chance again. But something new will come along, and this is how our lives are shaped, every person's shape being different, but connecting like puzzle pieces because living is all about connecting with other people. Wow, kind of a tangent. So, um, this was cool because I have finally come to terms with my nerdy-awesome-people-on-the-internet obsession, and because I like having a record of my life to see how I have grown.

Not the most eventful summer, but good nonetheless :)